Join Us

EcoCAR builds upon a proud 34-year history of DOE AVTCs and exemplifies the power of government/industry partnerships in addressing our nation’s toughest energy and mobility challenges and providing invaluable practical skills to promising young minds ready to enter the workforce.

More than 1,000 students participate yearly in the EcoCAR EV Challenge across 15 North American universities. The UT-Austin students work closely with leaders, engineers, and scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), General Motors (GM), MathWorks, and Argonne National Laboratory to gain real-world experience solving complex engineering challenges and build teamwork and leadership skills that they will take with them into their future careers.

As our team grows, we are actively recruiting highly motivated and committed UT-Austin undergraduate and graduate volunteer students to be part of our skilled team for the competition.

Our student volunteers will be joining one of the main tracks mentioned below to participate in the projects actively and receive the necessary training provided by the team leaders to fulfill the objectives of the projects on time. Please read carefully the preferred majors and preferred skills. Yes, you read it right “preferred skills“!!! Our team does not require students to necessarily have all the skills below. Our team is always open to all motivated students eager to learn even if they do not have the preferred skills. You will develop a rich range of skill sets as part of this competition with the help of your teammates and leaders.

Main Tracks and availability:

1. Project Management (Hiring)
2. Communications (Hiring, Multiple positions available)
3. Equity in Mobility (EiM) (Hiring, 2 positions available)
4. Propulsion, Controls, and Modeling (PCM) (Hiring, many positions available)
5. Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) (Hiring, many positions available)
6. Perception/Autonomy (Hiring, many positions available)

Most positions are related but not limited to the following areas:

  • Project Management
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Computer Science and Software Engineering
  • Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering
  • Communications and Business
  • Campus and Community Engagement
  • Web design and social media platform

Please read the information below before you apply. An application Link is provided for each track.

Minimum Application Requirements
– Personal Details
– CV / Related Experience
– Optional Cover Letter

Should you require any assistance, you may contact our Team Leads

Kindly note UT Austin EcoCAR EV Team positions are 100% voluntary-based.

Application Process

1. Complete and submit this form.
2. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview.
3. Successful candidates will then be offered a placement to join the UT Austin EcoCar EV Team
For more information about other available positions and associated deadline please visit our website.


Tracks and Preferred skills and majors

SDI Team (Systems Design & Integration):

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with CAD and FEA (especially Siemens NX)
• Hands-on experience working on vehicles and electronics
• Knowledgeable about mounting needs of sensors and computer hardware
• Able to create wire harnessing diagrams

Preferred Major:

All majors

Assistant Project Manager:

Preferred Skills:

• Management and leadership
• Strong presentation skills
• Ability to learn, understand, and communicate advanced vehicle technologies
• Desire to be the PM
• Detailed Oriented
• Previous engineering team members who would like to be in a leadership role
• Able to receive critique and criticism gracefully
• Note: Highly technical engineers do not always make great Project Managers

Preferred Major:

All majors

Communications Team:

Preferred Skills:

  • Management and leadership skills
  • Strong presentation capabilities
  • Ability to learn, understand and
  • communicate advanced vehicle technologies
  • Event Planning
  • Social Media, basic web design
  • Video Production
  • Open to learn
  • Great team player

Preferred Major:

  • Communications/Public Relations Student
  • Open to graduate and undergraduate students

Equity in Mobility Team (EiM)

Preferred Skills:

  • Passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts
  • Willingness to collaborate with others & have tough conversations
  • Ability to listen and empathize with others
  • Awareness of systemic issues regarding race and gender identity
  • Management and leadership skills
  • Strong presentation & communication skills
  • Ability to learn, understand and communicate advanced vehicle technologies
  • Event planning & community engagement

Preferred Major:

  • There is no specific major requirement for the DEIM. The DEIM may be an undergraduate or graduate student

Propulsion, Controls, and Modeling Team (PCM)

Preferred Skills to have (at least one)

  • Software development process
  • Extensive use of MATLAB & Simulink
  • Data processing and evaluation
  • Modeling and simulation
  • Management and leadership in a diverse team environment
  • Continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD)
  • GitHub/GitLab

Preferred Majors:

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Software Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Open to graduate and undergraduate students

Connected and Automated Vehicle Team (CAV)

Preferred Skills to have (at least one)

  • Sensor data processing and algorithm development
  • Programming knowledge and experience (e.g., Matlab, Python)
  • Sensor integration and driver setup
  • Simulation environment setup
  • Dynamic systems and controls
  • Machine learning / AI
  • Continuous integration / continuous development (CI/CD)
  • GitHub / GitLab

Preferred Majors:

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Software Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Open to graduate and undergraduate students

Perception/Autonomy Team

Preferred Skills to have (at least one)

  • Familiarity in programming in C++, Python, and other relevant programming languages
  • Experience with machine learning and computer vision techniques
  • Experience with linear algebra, probabilistic robotics, and software design
  • Experience with deep learning/robotics frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and ROS
  • Familiarity with autonomous driving concepts, systems, and sensors (lidars, cameras, radars, etc.)

Preferred Majors:

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Software Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Open to graduate and undergraduate students
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