Since 1988, the United State Department of Energy and numerous North American automotive leaders have sponsored Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC) in an effort to actively engage university students with automotive experience through the hands-on application of concepts learned in university curriculum combined with the latest automotive technologies. The Pennsylvania State University Advanced Vehicle Team (PSU AVT) competed against other North American universities in a number of AVTC competitions, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed under the Argonne National Laboratory.
Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions actively engage university students in hands-on experience working with cutting-edge automotive technologies. Through annual competition deliverables and testing, AVTC previously challenged students to reduce energy consumption without altering the consumer appeal of these vehicles. Today AVTC is focussing on developing autonomous electric vehicles, pushing students to build compliant autonomous vehicles while improving the overall driving efficiency of the car. These competitions equipped university students with unparalleled automotive experience through advanced technologies while fostering the growth of management and leadership expertise in a vehicle development process mirroring leading automotive industries.