The Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College team has won the Year Three prize of the Battery Workforce Challenge, a three-year engineering competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Stellantis. The competition tasked 11 teams from across North America with designing and building an advanced battery pack for the commercial Ram ProMaster EV platform. Managed by Argonne National Laboratory, the challenge aims to give students hands-on experience in battery design, validation, safety, build, and vehicle integration.
The competition structure
Over three years, teams progressed through technical milestones reflecting real-world industry challenges. In year one, teams established their architecture strategy. Year two focused on design trade-offs. In year three, teams studied trade-offs for battery packaging, finalized the design, and began their manufacturing supply strategies. The winning team was recognized for its superior project-management plan, team cohesiveness, and efficiency in completing each phase.
The winners and runners-up
- First place: The Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College team
- Second place: McMaster University and Mohawk College team
- Third place (tie): Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Ivy Tech Community College team
- Third place (tie): University of Alabama and Shelton State Community College team
Workforce development angle
The Battery Workforce Challenge is a three-year engineering competition that challenges students from North American universities and their community college partners to design, build, test, and integrate an advanced EV battery pack for a Stellantis vehicle. Micky Bly, Senior Vice President of Global Propulsion Systems Engineering at Stellantis, noted that several challenge students have joined the Stellantis team to launch their professional careers. The program is designed to address the critical need for skilled workforce development in the rapidly evolving EV sector.
Bottom line
The competition demonstrates that hands-on, multi-year engineering challenges can produce job-ready graduates for the automotive battery industry. The winning team's approach to project management and team cohesion set a benchmark for future participants.