Father Christmas wit

Father Christmas with helmet delivers presents during the London Blitz-1940

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1931: Father Christm

1931: Father Christmas delivering presents to the Children’s Aid and Adoption Society at Leytonstone, London

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1938: Father Christm

1938: Father Christmas hands out presents to children at the Aid And Adoption Society home at Leytonstone

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Impacting Climate Change: OSU’s Time with Senator Whitehouse and Cardinal Turkson

Climate change. It is one of the most polarizing and critical topics in popular culture right now. Ohio State EcoCAR was fortunate to spend time with two climate change thought leaders this fall: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island, and Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana.

Senator Whitehouse visited the team at the Center for Automotive Research on Oct. 31, 2015, as part of a multiday trip through Ohio to see sustainable energy research in action. Whitehouse serves on the Committee of Environment and Public Works, co-founded/co-chairs the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change and addresses the Senate weekly with his “Climate Change: Time to Wake Up” speeches. Whitehouse’s trip to Ohio was documented in his Senate address on Nov. 10, 2015, which can be found here (at the 12:30 mark, you may see some familiar faces!).

Cardinal Turkson is a Roman Catholic Bishop, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and is heavily involved in the Pope’s current environmental efforts. While in Columbus, Ohio, he spent time as a guest of The Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources and met with a group of students and faculty including five Ohio State EcoCAR team members. Turkson and the team discussed EcoCAR 3 and the future of automotive sustainability in our time together on Nov. 2, 2015.

In this video, team members M.J. Yatsko, Andrew Huster and Nick Tomczak share how they felt about spending time with two prominent environmental figures. You can watch the OSU Impacting Climate Change video here:

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5 Things to Know about the UWAFT Team

Do you want to know a bit more about the team at the University of Waterloo? From their location in Waterloo, to team accomplishments, and even a company that evolved from skills and experiences learned from AVTCs, here are five unique things about UWAFT:

1. Our team spans over two universities – The University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. Located down the street from each other, this relationship is a match made in heaven with Waterloo’s strong engineering team and Laurier’s knowledgeable business students. While the two universities often compete in athletics, the UWAFT partnership is a great example of how two academic institutions in a close proximity can work together to create excellent results.
2. UWAFT is one of two Canadian teams participating in the EcoCAR competition. Located in Waterloo, Ontario, our team represents our innovative roots through participation in EcoCAR.
3. Our team at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University is located within an area of Ontario known as ‘Silicon Valley North’, which has a very high concentration of startups in the small geographic area. This unique distinction has brought a lot of attention to the area lately, due to startup successes and the tendency towards excellent innovations.
4. UWAFT Alumni created Crosschasm, a company which consults with businesses and individuals on how to optimize their fuel efficiency based on different factors. After a first place win during the four-year ChallengeX competition, Crosschasm was created with skills learned during the challenge.
5. In 2005, the UWAFT team created the first student-built roadworthy passenger fuel cell vehicle, also during the ChallengeX competition. This vehicle had a hydrogen fuel cell and was responsible for a first place win in that year of the competition.

The post 5 Things to Know about the UWAFT Team appeared first on Ecocar 3.

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University High School Learning Day

After more than a month of preparation by the WVU EcoCAR 3 team, the youth outreach event at University High School in Morgantown, W.Va., had finally arrived. Students, grades 9 through 12, from Mrs. Oiler’s engineering classes filled the shop at the high school to hear more about EcoCAR 3 and hybrid technologies.

With the help of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), one of the largest alternative fueling training centers in the United States, the WVU EcoCAR 3 team was able to pool resources for this event. Headquartered at West Virginia University, the NAFTC uses a mobile classroom with iPads to engage youth and adults, while teaching them about the benefits of alternative energies.

In addition to the mobile classroom with iPads, the NAFTC also brought their cutaway Prius that shows the inner workings of a hybrid vehicle. This hands-on technology allowed students to scan QR codes of each hybrid component to learn more about how they work.Videos of WVU’s EcoCAR 3 team played while students explored the technologies of hybrids and alternative fuels. The students learned a lot about the team and its mission and were later tested on EcoCAR 3.

The WVU EcoCAR 3 team placed themselves throughout the high school’s shop and NAFTC’s mobile learning center to answer questions about the EcoCAR 3 competition. NAFTC staff also attended the event to answer questions students had about hybrid vehicles and the fuels that can be used in place of conventional gasoline.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the day was seeing how interested these students were in learning about hybrids and how this technology will impact our future. Several students left the event asking, “When will you be back?”

After learning about the EcoCAR 3 competition and WVU’s involvement, students were asked to answer trivia questions and fill out surveys to gauge how much they learned from the presentation. More than 25% of students said they learned “quite a bit” and 63% said they planned to pursue STEM careers in the future.

University High School students had several questions for EcoCAR 3 team members, including Assistant Communications Manager Kimberly Dutcher.

Students worked in groups of two to answer trivia questions displayed on iPads throughout the mobile classroom. The winning teams took home bragging rights and handfuls of candy.

There was time for a photo with the NAFTC’s cutaway Prius between class changes. Even WVU EcoCAR 3 Engineering Manager Justin Brumley hopped in. Communications Manager Chelsea Betts (right) and Assistant Communications Manager Kimberly Dutcher joined him in time to say, “Cheese!”

The day ended with interviews from two local broadcast stations. It was the perfect way to spread the word of EcoCAR 3 to West Virginia residents who may not have known about this innovative project.

The post University High School Learning Day appeared first on Ecocar 3.

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NXP Hosts the Year Two Winter Workshop

We are excited to announce that the EcoCAR 3 Year Two Winter Workshop will be hosted by NXP Semiconductors in Austin, TX. Recently, visionary Sponsor Freescale, merged with NXP Semiconductors. According to Rick Clemmer, Chief Executive Officer of NXP, “The combination of NXP and Freescale creates an industry powerhouse focused on the high-growth opportunities in the Smarter World.” Leadership level sponsor, dSPACE, will team up with NXP to co-sponsor the Year Two Winter Workshop.

For the first time during Year Two, students will teams will have the opportunity to present to industry professionals in the areas of Innovation, Systems Modeling and Simulation, Hardware in the Loop, and Project Status. The first in-person presentations will prepare the students for the Year Two final competition in May of 2016. During the Year Two Winter Workshop, teams can expect to receive multi-track training from several leading competition-level sponsors including: General Motors, NXP, dSPACE, MathWorks, Siemens, Mentor Graphics and more.

A select group of local Austin-area middle school and high school students are invited to visit NXP to take part in the 2016 Education Day. These students will have the opportunity to spend the day with EcoCAR 3 students, participate in hands-on activities that enhance their understanding of STEM, and take a tour of the Internet of Tomorrow Truck.

We look forward to seeing students and sponsors at the Year Two Winter Workshop!

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Off to LA for the Re-Opening of the Petersen Automotive Museum

Photo from autoblog.com

We could not be more excited for the grand re-opening of the Petersen Automotive Museum. I’m hopping on a plane to LA tonight so I can be there when the doors open. The museum was beautiful before, with its rare collector cars and special exhibits that make car-lovers everywhere drool, but it just underwent a $90Million overhaul. So what was once a beautiful, historic automotive museum, is now a state-of-the-art, world-class automotive experience.

If you want to see some preview photos, check out this article on Jalopnik.

Remember ADRNLN? The Ringbrothers Pantera I bought at Barrett-Jackson in January? Well, I decided it didn’t need to sit in our garage any longer collection dust. So I loaned it to the Petersen Museum, so that automotive enthusiasts that visit the museum from all over the world can bask in its beauty.

Photo from nobraking.com

So next time you’re in LA, put a visit to the Petersen on your priority list.

I’ll try to post photos on Twitter and Instagram from the museum tomorrow. Can’t wait!

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Gas Monkey Garage Monster Jam Truck!

It was only a matter of time before Gas Monkey Garage had a Monster Truck, right? We’re excited to announce that the Gas Monkey Garage Monster truck will debut in Houston on January 9, 2016, with veteran Monster Jam driver BJ Johnson behind the wheel! You can see it for yourself if you go to one of the Monster Jam events listed below. Get all the dirty details HERE.

2016 Gas Monkey Garage Tour Schedule
January 9 – Houston, Texas – NRG Stadium
January 16 – Anaheim, California – Angel Stadium of Anaheim
January 23 – San Diego, California – PETCO Park
January 30 – Glendale, Arizona – University of Phoenix Stadium
February 5-6 – Fargo, North Dakota – Fargo Dome
February 13 – Arlington, Texas – AT&T Stadium
February 20 – Oakland, California – O.co Coliseum
February 27 – Vancouver, British Columbia – BC Place Stadium
March 5-6 – El Paso, Texas – UTEP Sun Bowl

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