The Ohio State EcoCAR team collected its second consecutive team victory in a four-year competition to reengineer a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro into a performance hybrid at the EcoCAR 3 Year One Competition in Seattle, Washington, on June 4. The team’s communication program, led by strategic communication majors Chelsea Hagan and Trevor Thompkins, earned a second consecutive first place in the “Overall Communications Program” category, topping 15 other teams nationwide in the competition. The communications programs are sponsored by the Clean Cities Coalition and have direct contact with competition managers at Argonne National Laboratories, and the overall competition is sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. The team also included OSU School of Communication and PRSSA students Leanne Robinett, Laurianne Abbey and Mary Britton. Communications major and videographer Adam Brigham also helped the team create two high-profile videos. 

Ohio State EcoCAR has over 40 students representing 10 majors across the campus, with the majority of students being engineers.  The communication students work in the interdisciplinary team to communicate technical messages to a range of audiences. Ohio State’s communications managers submitted four deliverables to competition for points: an in-depth communications plan, implementation plan, media relations report and a video promoting the team’s collaboration with a competition sponsor.  They organized outreach with target audiences on campus, in the community and with youth interested in STEM education, which included event planning, social media management, presentations and extensive media relations.  At competition, managers Hagan and Thompkins delivered an outreach presentation on their top eight events from the year.

Ohio State EcoCAR plans to carry this momentum into Year Two of EcoCAR 3.  Follow the team on Instagram and Twitter @OSUEcoCAR and on Facebook at Ohio State University EcoCAR 3.  Visit the team’s website and reach out at the Fall Activities fair, as the team will be looking for new communications students.