Romulo Vieira (left), the team's project manager, and Primo Wang, the team’s battery pack software lead, showcase their team’s Hardware-in-the-Loop benches, which have the guts of the battery’s electrical system on display in Indianapolis on May 8.Supplied
There’s little doubt within the auto industry that electric vehicles are the future. Who will make them, however, remains an open question.
Whether workers here in Canada get a meaningful slice of that action depends, at least in part, on whether they have the right skills and training.
That’s where hands-on competitions like the Battery Workforce Challenge can help. A team of students from Ontario’s McMaster University and Mohawk College recently defeated rival teams from Canada and the United States to win the EV battery competition, which the students hope will position them well to create the EVs of the future.
“Students want to work on something that really matters. They see the EV industry as a way to make a real impact, not only in the battery technology, but also in more sustainable future,” said Romulo Vieira, project manager of the winning team and a Ph.D. candidate at McMaster working on artificial intelligence and batteries.
“I believe a lot of us in this field started by wanting to be part of the solution for climate change,” he said. “Batteries are one of the core technologies making that shift [away from gas-powered vehicles] possible.”
The team of students from McMaster and Mohawk won year two of the three-year Battery Workforce Challenge, which is managed by the Argonne National Laboratory, a federally funded U.S. research institution, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and sponsored by Stellantis. The goal of the competition is to help train the next generation of engineers, programmers, builders, chemists and inventors who will create EVs of the future.
The Battery Workforce Challenge collegiate competition's McMaster University and Mohawk College team is all smiles while posing with Micky Bly, Stellantis's senior vice-president and head of global propulsion systems, after winning the Overall Award during the Friday, May 9, 2025, year two awards ceremony held at the Hilton Indianapolis.Stellantis/Supplied
During year two, each team of students had to design and build an EV battery module, including battery architecture and associated software. Teams were judged on their battery module design, project management, market development and communications skills.
Vieira said the McMaster-Mohawk team didn’t win based on a particular advantage in their battery technology but by excelling across all 55 different deliverables evaluated by the judges.
Lamar Webb, a student in Mohawk’s software development program, said his interest in joining the competition was sparked by the chance to tackle a big problem like climate change and get in on the ground floor of an emerging industry.
“Battery technology is in its infancy,” Webb said. “Getting in now offers you the perfect opportunity to make a meaningful impact on a field that is going to have meaningful impacts on climate and the future of transportation.”
For Stellantis, having a skilled workforce trained in the complex skills required for EV development is crucial, said Oliver Gross, a senior fellow of electrical energy technology at the auto company. He mentored, advised and judged teams in his role as a technical advisor for the competition.
“You have to get them the opportunity to be hands-on and see directly how what they learn in theory in class manifests itself practically,” Gross said.
Broadly speaking, if Canada is to meet its climate targets, the students graduating now will be the generation of workers that solves the problems of fast charging, electrical infrastructure, battery energy density and brings down costs.
“We’re going to see big improvements on a few fronts,” Vieira said. “First, energy density will continue to improve, which means you can drive more without increasing the battery size ... Charging times are getting faster and thermal management is becoming more advanced, which will make EVs more reliable in extreme temperatures.”
In short, he said, the future will bring smarter, safer and more sustainable electric vehicles.
Having a skilled workforce that can meet the needs of the rapidly growing EV and battery industry is crucial if Canada is to gain a slice of the US$1.2-trillion that Reuters calculates car companies will invest in the sector through 2030.
Between 2020 and 2024, federal and provincial governments have invested up to $52.5-billion in the EV supply chain, to help secure new battery manufacturing facilities and retool existing auto assembly plants for EV production.
Romulo Vieira (right), the team's project manager, conducts electrical testing on his team’s battery disconnect unit. Seated next to him, from left, are Scott Sullivan, Eaton’s technical strategy lead; Holland Forsythe, Argonne National Laboratory’s technology integration project coordinator; and Lewis Gross, the team’s engineering manager.Supplied
Ontario’s growing EV industry presents “a generational economic opportunity for the province and its workforce,” according to a 2024 study by Canada’s independent non-profit Information and Communications Technology Council.
However, a 2023 forecast by the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) predicted the province won’t have enough workers with the right skills to fill the growing demand for jobs related to EV manufacturing, engineering and digital technologies.
“What we really need are more programs that give students hands-on, industry-relevant experience, and that’s where initiatives like the Battery Workforce Challenge make a huge difference,” Vieira said. “We’ve seen first-hand how much students grow when they are part of real engineering projects, like meeting deadlines [and] solving problems that mirror what they will face in the industry.”
All of Canada’s efforts to become a leader in the EV sector are being undermined by U.S. tariffs and rollbacks of EV and environmental policy, which threatens to turn North America into a global backwater when it comes to EVs.
The sudden instability in the market worries Vieira, who is hoping to find a job in the battery industry in Canada when he graduates so he can stay close to his family. At this point, he’s wondering if maybe he’ll have to go elsewhere.