ASU is one of sixteen universities selected to participate in EcoCAR 3, a competition launched by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors Co. The competition represents an effort to bring the automotive industry into a cleaner energy future while providing engineering students with real-world training. Over the next four years, a team of automotive-engineering students from the Polytechnic Campus will work to transform a Chevrolet Camaro into an energy efficient vehicle that operates using fossil fuels.

According to a recent Arizona Republic article, each of the 16 competing universities will receive $63 million in the form of hardware, software and other funds. During the first year, the universities will use these funds to design prototypes using software and simulations. They will then assemble their prototypes during the second year, refine them during the third year and add any finishing touches while launching marketing campaigns during the final year. Abdel Mayyas, engineering faculty lead of the project, says that the EcoCAR 3 competition represents an opportunity for ASU to be recognized as a top automotive-engineering program in the western U.S.