The College of Engineering Technology Automotive department has launched a new sustainable transportation technology program.
The program was approved in the Spring, with the intention to begin offering it to students in August.
The focus of the curriculum is based on electric vehicles, but students will learn a bit about clean transportation technologies.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about the newest vehicle technologies, broadening their skill sets for the real world.
The program is intended to be primarily electric based, with students covering topics such as hydrogen cells and tailpipe emissions.
The automotive department decided to pursue the idea of the program following interest from students regarding work with electric vehicles.
The program was made possible by a National Science Foundation grant, totaling $350,000.
Patrick English is the professor at the helm of program development as the faculty coordinator.
According to English, the goal of the program is to provide students with more skills to be successful in their future careers.
“We’re Ferris automotive, so it doesn’t matter what they put under the hood,” English said. “We’re going to make sure that our students have the ability to make a living and be able to work with it and service whatever is on the road.”
English added that a certificate in electric vehicle powertrain will be added within a year. Students do not need to be in the sustainable transportation program to have the opportunity to earn the certificate.
Students who have graduated from the traditional automotive degree will have the opportunity to add this certificate to their skill set, potentially separating them from other students in the job market.
The program has been designed to prepare students to become certified through the Society of Automotive Engineers under the electric vehicle technician certification.
Students will have the opportunity to take the certification exam following completion of the program that will allow them to work with electric vehicles, high voltage batteries and electric motors.
Assistant Professor Paul McNair emphasized the importance of having a program that offers hands-on experience.
“Ferris is very good about having hands-on experience,” McNair said. “I worked for GM for over 40 years, and I hired from Ferris for 10 of those 40 years. I found that my Ferris graduates were the best employees because they had a lot of hands-on experience, so they understand vehicles.”
The program has several electric vehicles available for students to practice with, including a Nissan Ariya, donated by the company.
There are also discussions occurring between the program and General Motors, with the potential for the company to donate electrical vehicle components for students to utilize in their studies.
Computer Information Technology freshman Rachel Puruleski explained that the new program will help to bring new students to the university.
“I think that it would be a really good addition to the already existing program that we have here,” Puruleski said. “I feel like it would bring in a lot more students for automotive.”
Puruleski also stated that having more program options will allow students to figure out what they want to do in the future.
The program is currently open for enrollment from students, with the hope of increasing enrollment as the fall semester gets underway.
Patrick English stated that Ferris is currently the only university in Michigan offering a sustainable transportation program in this configuration.
“We’re dealing with students that want the traditional automotive degree, and always will, but there’s a different student that wants to go full electric,” English said. “We created a degree for someone who can come start from scratch as an electric vehicle technician from the beginning.”
Students that are interested in learning more about the program may contact Patrick English at pa************@****is.edu.