Caili and Daniel Chang Center for Electric Drive Transportation

The GATE Center for Electric Drive Transportation (CEDT)  was established in 2011 with a grant from the

Department of Energy’s Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Program.

In December 2023, with a generous donation from Caili and Daniel Change, the Gate Center was renamed to the

Caili and Daniel Chang Center for Electric Drive Transportation. 

2011 marked the third generation of seven GATE Centers:

  • San Diego State University (formerly at the University of Michigan – Dearborn)
  • Purdue University
  • The Ohio State University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Clemson University
  • The University of Colorado & Colorado Springs
  • University of Alabama

DOE’s GATE initiative awarded $6.4 million over the course of 5 years to support these 7 Centers of Excellence at American colleges, universities, and university-affiliated research institutions. The awardees will focus on 3 critical automotive technology areas: hybrid propulsion, energy storage, and lightweight materials. By funding curriculum development and expansion as well as laboratory work, GATE allows higher education institutions to develop multidisciplinary training. As a result, GATE promotes the development of a skilled workforce of engineering professionals who will overcome technical barriers and help commercialize the next generation of advanced automotive technologies.

Objectives

As one of the seven university research centers that were awarded the prestigious grants, CEDT is dedicated to achieving synergy among technological development, research, and graduate education in automotive engineering.

Electric Drive Vehicles (EDV) provide an alternative to conventional transportation vehicles with advantages in energy efficiency and environmental benefits. The newly established CEDT will concentrate on research aimed at finding innovative solutions to the challenges in EDV developments. It serves as a platform for the integration of research and development in EDV technologies and the curriculum of the graduate programs. Its primary objective is to enhance the graduate curriculum with updated EDV technologies and to integrate faculty research with the graduate programs. The center will provide an effective environment for the training of automotive engineers who are readily capable of applying advanced technologies in the workplace for the design, development, and marketing of energy-efficient vehicles for daily transportation.

Specifically, concentration in Electric Drive Transportation in the MS and Ph.D programs will be established in our Center. We will also develop 7 new courses and a series of short courses in Electric Drive Vehicles. 5 graduate fellowships will be offered per year. What’s more, an Industry Consortium will be established on Electric Drive Vehicles.

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