updated November 1, 2010

Chad Conway has seen the future of electric vehicles and is preparing to be among the engineers leading the wave in this growing environmental-friendly industry.
 

The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology junior mechanical engineering and electrical engineering double major spent six months as a battery engineering intern for Tesla Motors, a California-based company that’s producing increasingly affordable electric cars for mainstream buyers. It currently is the only U.S. automaker that builds and sells highway-capable electrical vehicles in serial production, and the revolutionary Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars, with no emissions.

Cutting-Edge Internship: Chad Conway, a junior double engineering major, spent six months as a battery engineering intern for Tesla Motors, a California-based company that’s producing affordable electric cars for mainstream buyers.

“These are definitely exciting times to be involved in electrical vehicle development, a personal dream come true for me, and I was fortunate to be working for the cutting-edge company in this expanding industry,” said Conway after returning to college this fall. “Tesla is becoming known globally for its battery technology and producing some amazing electric cars.”

 
During the internship, Conway got a first-hand look as Tesla became a publicly traded company, prepared to open its first factory for mass production of electric vehicles and agreed to produce an all-electric sport utility vehicle for Toyota.

 
Tesla’s new factory will combine top automotive and Silicon Valley talent to produce the car of the 21st century –- the Model S, the first premium sedan designed from the ground up to take full advantage of electric vehicle architecture. With an optional extended-range battery pack, the Model S will travel 300 miles per charge.

“Every day we were doing something important, new and exciting. The pace was definitely invigorating and there was never a dull moment,” Conway said. “I learned so much at Tesla. I was accepted with open arms and allowed to find my own opportunities to help the company and project development team. I was treated as a full-time engineer and someone with good ideas.”

EcoCAR Team Leader: Chad Conway has returned to serve as team leader for the final year of Rose-Hulman’s involvement in the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge sustainable vehicle development competition.

By the end of the summer, Conway had been involved in almost every phase of battery development -- designing, prototyping, manufacturing, sourcing, quality control and testing. One of his favorite projects was building the prototype of the A-Class battery packs, leading a team of four senior-level technicians. He was able to identify problems and either find a solution or alert the engineer that was responsible for creating the part. He also developed the instructions to ensure that the battery packs will have consistent performance characteristics.

 
“It is pretty incredible to know that I played a big role in the development of the battery pack,” he said. “I was able to answer all kinds of questions as well as offer another perspective when sitting in engineering meetings.”

 
Conway has been fascinated with electrical vehicles since high school. He restored a 1980 Comuta-Car, a pioneering electric car built from 1975 to 1982, for driving in his hometown of Duxbury, Mass. He also expanded his interest in sustainable vehicles during an internship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on the university’s City Car Project.

 
At Rose-Hulman, Conway has returned to play an active role in the leadership team that’s developing a hybrid-electric SUV for the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, a sustainable vehicle design competition for 16 North American colleges and universities. He is the team’s leader for the final year of the student project.

 
“I have taken some of the lessons learned from Tesla Motors and I’m applying them to helping lead the EcoCAR team,” Conway said. “Project management was a key to success at Tesla, and it will be a key element to winning the EcoCAR competition. My job is to keep everything on task and everyone motivated.”

 
Conway has joined other EcoCAR members in making educational presentations about electrical vehicle technology at the Collegiate Energy Summit, hosted by Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar; a meeting of central Indiana business and community leaders at the mansion of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels; the Wabash Valley Energy Conservation Fair; and the EcoCAR Fall Workshop, conducted near Boston.

 
“I believe that electric vehicles are the future of the automotive industry. I came to Rose-Hulman because of the EcoCAR project and its focus on allowing undergraduate students an opportunity to explore their interests in vehicle development, sustainability and cutting-edge technology,” Conway said. “My campus experiences opened the door for my Tesla internship, and that internship may put me in a position to work with other startup companies in the future. I want to make a difference. Where that will take me, I don’t know right now. However, I definitely want to work in the electric vehicle industry. It is the future, and I want to be a part of it.”