DENSO Officials Visit, Provide Support to UT's EcoCAR 3 Team - Tennessee Today
UT’s EcoCAR 3 team got a welcome boost from a familiar place recently, as officials from the DENSO North America Foundation and DENSO Manufacturing came to campus to tour the team’s facilities and present a check for $45,000. It’s not the first... During the past decade, the company has provided $380,000 to UT’s various automotive competition teams, leading up to the current EcoCAR incarnation. “The relationship we have with DENSO and the support they provide as a team sponsor is critical to the success of our team,” said David “Butch” Irick, EcoCAR faculty advisor at UT and research associate professor in mechanical engineering. As part of the visit, Melissa Smith, DENSO International’s program manager for community affairs came from Southfield, Michigan, to meet the team, along with Emilie Denson, a DENSO project manager from Maryville. The two were given a ride in UT’s vehicle from the last round of EcoCAR competitions and watched a presentation highlighting the program’s efforts over the years. Since then, there have been eleven such competitions—EcoCAR 3 is the latest example—but that first one will always hold a special place for Irick and UT. “Because we won it,” said Irick. Source: tntoday.utk.edu
