UM-Dearborn bolsters battery engineering curriculum with new courses this fall

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has been busy retooling its popular Automotive and Mobility Systems Engineering master's program, with new classes and concentrations that reflect ongoing shifts in the industry. One newer emphasis, not surprisingly, is electric vehicles, though Mechanical Engineering Professor and Department Chair Oleg Zikanov says the plethora of headlines about slowing EV sales growth in the U.S. have made the optics of that pivot a bit more complicated. "Some students are asking about it," says Zikanov, who often takes time to chat with new students as they enter the program. "Especially the students who are coming from an automotive or mechanical engineering background, they're saying, 'I thought I would do electric vehicles, but now I'm not so sure. Should I do something else?'"

Zikanov's advice to them is two-fold. First, it's true the all-EV future may not arrive as quickly as overly optimistic hype people claimed a few years ago, a line Zikanov says many serious people in the industry were skeptical about anyway. But batteries will undoubtedly play a major role in both the automotive and energy industries now and in the coming decades. He notes that even in the short term, if we see a pivot back to hybrid vehicles, which is how some manufacturers are coping with tepid consumer appetite for today's EVs, advanced batteries are a critical component, especially in larger vehicles. Second, Zikanov counsels students to "not put all your eggs in one basket." To that end, he says the AMSE degree is set up well for students, since they can take a wide variety of coursework in traditional areas like powertrain and manufacturing, as well as emerging ones like electrification and autonomy.

For students who are interested in batteries and storage, however, Zikanov says this fall's addition of two new courses to those already in the ME curriculum gives students a background in all major subjects. One course, taught by Associate Professor Lei Chen, whose research focuses on EV battery firesand e-mobility manufacturing, introduces students to battery materials, manufacturing and recycling. "For many of our students, they may know something about charging and discharging," Chen says. "But I think the materials and manufacturing process for batteries, and how the materials contribute to things like the structure of the battery and energy density, will be a totally new area." Recycling of battery materials is an especially important subject for the industry right now, as finding ways to reuse expensive elements like lithium and cobalt could be vital to making energy storage and EVs more affordable and environmentally sustainable.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Hong Tae Kang is leading the other new course, which focuses on structural design of battery pack casings. This is a crucial design element of EVs, because the large, very heavy battery packs must be mounted in the car in a way that doesn't negatively impact the vehicle's structural integrity, safety and performance. Kang says they'll be focusing on computer-aided engineering analysis to determine how the battery cages, which are typically mounted underneath the vehicle floor, stand up to different loads, impacts and levels of vibration over the life of the vehicle.

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Youngki Kim will also be reprising his Battery System Modeling and Control course in Winter 2025. In that class, students learn the basics of battery system operations and how to describe them with mathematical models. In particular, the course focuses on key functions of battery management systems, like tracking a battery's charge, power and health, which are crucial for EVs and consumer electronics alike. In keeping with the university's focus on practice-based learning, Kim has nixed all quizzes and exams for his class, opting instead for a team project where students get to apply what they've learned to battery modeling or state estimator design.

Indeed, as UM-Dearborn debuts this new bolstered battery curriculum this fall, it's already looking like the panic over EV sales may have been an overreaction. First, it's important to note that EV sales aren't actually falling in the U.S.; the rate of growth merely slowed in the early part of 2024. In fact, the lion's share of that can be attributed to slumping sales at Tesla, which has such a large share of the domestic EV market that it's capable of skewing the overall picture. EV sales were actually up at six other automakers during the first quarter of 2024, including by more than 80 percent at Toyota and Ford. Even GM, which was hit hard in early 2024, expects sales growth to rebound by year's end. Meanwhile, long-term forecasts for EV growth continue to look quite rosy, especially globally.

"I think there is still widespread recognition that EVs will dominate the auto market," Kim says. "Stringent emissions regulations in the U.S., E.U. and other countries make it clear that internal combustion engines alone cannot meet future requirements. I reassure students that the fundamentals of battery modeling and control remain the same, so their education and skills will continue to be relevant and valuable regardless of market fluctuations."

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Want to learn more about battery research at UM-Dearborn? Read more about Associate Professor Lei Chen's research on EV fires, or students and faculty who are participating in the national Battery Workforce Challenge.

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