STEAM Is The New STEM

Written By: Sara Lepley

For years, educators have viewed science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) as the apex of learning; get students excited about STEM and innovation will follow.

Considering the advent of design in innovation, however, it may be time to incorporate art and design into the acronym.

Science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) advocates propose we explore opportunities where applied arts can fit into and enhance the overall STEM curriculum. In doing so, we can discover new models for creative problem solving and better our nation’s economic competitiveness. Advocates also point out that art-based activities work to draw young people in by igniting their imaginations.

As the communications manager for Virginia Tech’s EcoCAR 3 team, I see first-hand how EcoCAR 3 embraces a STEAM education approach.

EcoCAR 3 is a premier intercollegiate engineering competition in which students transform a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro into a hybrid electric vehicle. The competition fosters interdisciplinary, hands-on learning.

One benefit of STEAM education that EcoCAR 3 takes advantage of is how artists can communicate complex material in effective and interesting ways to the general public.

A key role of the communications team is to host outreach events for the community. We speak with influencers to demonstrate the importance of sustainability, innovation, and hands-on learning. We also work with consumers, enticing them to look at hybrids as great investments. With youth audiences, we hope to instill a love of learning, and an appreciation for the environment.

Employing a STEAM education approach is especially beneficial to us when working with children. Research has found that engaging students’ strengths using art activities increases motivation and the probability of STEM success, as reported by Education Week.

We decided to give the concept a shot at Education Day, a segment of EcoCAR 3 Winter Workshop in which middle and high school students visited NXP to learn about engineering.

We had the students brainstorm what the Camaro should look like and how it should interact with the driver and passengers. Students dreamed up ideas such as having images of nature light up on car doors when the car drove in electric mode and having a Siri-esque voice that chats with drivers. After the brainstorming session, the kids learned how engineering practices, such as coding, can make those ideas come to life.

In a survey, nearly 90 percent of the kids who participated in the activity reported they found it “highly enjoyable.” Another 75 percent reported that after the activity and lesson, they considered design to be “very important” to the automotive industry.

Considering that these students live in Austin—a city posed to be the next Silicon Valley and where General Motors opened a location catering specifically to technology developers—we felt great seeing the students get so excited about technology design.

Incorporating “art” also means including students who might not normally have any investment in STEM.

The communications component of the EcoCAR 3 competition, for example, includes students in the art, communications, and English departments of the university. Those students get to capitalize on their strengths while supporting their team in the competition.

Personally, I’ve always been more right-brained than left. Engineering seemed uninteresting and, frankly, a little over my head. With EcoCAR 3, however, I’ve discovered how interesting and impactful engineering innovation can be. I get to do what I love, such as writing and planning exciting events, while learning about the automotive industry. Not only do I love my job and my team, but I also have a new appreciation and understanding of the STEM fields.

People have different strengths and interests. Adding “art” to the STEM conversation means including more bright, talented people to contribute to innovation in our country.

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Embry-Riddle Begins Deconstruction!

Written By: Clare Maloney

The Embry-Riddle EcoCAR 3 team has been chomping at the bit getting ready to tear apart their 2016 Chevrolet Camaro! Ever since the digital documents were received in the first year of the EcoCAR 3 competition, the team has been extremely patient waiting for the moment the would received the green light to begin implementing their ideas and designs into their vehicle platform. Within moments of receiving notice from the EcoCAR organizers of the approval to begin deconstruction, two Master’s students, Dylan Lewton and Adam Szechy, along with a batch of the newest EcoEagles, began preforming their first engine drop on the team’s vehicle. By the end of the night, the team was ecstatic to see what fit in their vehicle.

Check out the pictures below to watch the night’s progress:

 

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MSU EcoCAR 3 Talks About Their Selected Architecture

The Mississippi State University EcoCAR 3 team announced its selected architecture for its redesigning efforts of the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. Throughout the course of the four-year competition the team will implement a series of custom components to modify the 2016 Camaro into a Series- Parallel Plug-In Hybrid-Electric Vehicle powered by E85.

How will the team do this?

The team’s selected architecture includes a custom gear drive and energy storage system (ESS). The custom gear box will pull energy from three sources and apply it to one output, the vehicle’s drive shaft. The gears will be carved out of aluminum in an out-of-house facility. The case which will hold the gears will be made in-house by the team. Coupled with the custom gear drive is a two-speed transmission. The transmission will allow for the vehicle to reach approximately 115 miles per hour (MPH). Together, the custom gear drive and two speed transmission help ensure the vehicle is both efficient and powerful.

The team’s custom ESS, A123 18.9 kWh 7x15s3p, which is placed in the rear of the vehicle, will allow the vehicle to travel approximately 60 miles on electricity alone. The MSU EcoCAR 3 team will be building the carbon fiber casing and supports for the ESS. Working with carbon fiber is one of the highlights for the MSU EcoCAR 3 Mechanical Sub-team.

In electric vehicles, electric motors are used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. The mechanical energy is what moves the vehicle forward. In the team’s selected architecture, the two selected electric motors, UQM 125 and UQM 145, will peak at approximately 1000 ft pounds in newton metres when applied to the vehicle’s two-speed transmission. One newton is the force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram at a rate of one meter per second squared. These two electric motors are essential to maintaining the high-performance of the classic Camaro.

In addition, the team chose to use a two cylinder, turbo-charged Weber engine for the Camaro. Originally designed for snowmobiles and wave runners, the Weber engine is compact and lightweight. The MSU EcoCAR 3 team is converting the engine to run on E85 gasoline.

E85 is an alternative fuel containing approximately 85 percent ethanol. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), ethanol is a renewable, domestically produced transportation fuel made from plant material which helps reduce imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions. The team’s selected architecture also includes a ten gallon E85 gasoline tank. The current average for E85 gasoline is $2.03 per gallon. As of today, it would only take $20.30 to fill the team’s vehicle’s gas tank from empty to full. With plans to receive approximately 100 miles per gallon (MPG), the driver could travel nearly one thousand miles off of one tank of gas in the MSU EcoCAR 3 vehicle.

With all of these components working together, the team’s vehicle is planned to achieve 50 – 70 MPH in approximately 2.1 seconds. In addition, the vehicle will be able to achieve Initial Vehicle Motion (IVM) – 60 MPH in approximately 4.5 seconds.

Click Here to learn more about the MSU EcoCAR 3 Team’s Architecture selection.

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UWAFT Reduces Idling one Pledge at a time

Recently, the UWAFT team gathered their mittens, scarves and skates and headed to the Uptown Waterloo Public Square skating rink to raise awareness about Anti-Idling. With the help of Clean Cities, the team successfully educated the families, students and young professionals about the health risks and environmental impact that every second idling your car unnecessarily causes.

On a cold winter afternoon, the team provided hot chocolate, juice, treats and swag to individuals that were open and eager to learn about our environmental initiative but also who we are as a team and our competition. People were intrigued to learn we are one of two Canadian schools and wished us the best of luck during the rest of our competition. The team was able to collect forty signatures of people pledging to do their part in reducing idling!

Overall, the team had people excited about the cause and skating around sporting UWAFT branded sunglasses! A cold day it was…but one definitely worth the cause.

Our Communications Manager Meagan and Project Manager Dan setting up for a fun-filled day in the Uptown Waterloo Square. They are here setting up our information, pledge sheet, goodies and SWAG!

Our Social Media Lead Harsh prepared for a fun filled day ahead to give out some SWAG and get people to do their part in limiting unnecessary idling!

A family posing in their new UWAFT shades while taking a break from the rink. They signed the pledge and enjoyed some cookies.

A student passing by was one of the first to sign the pledge. He was not only intrigued about our initiative, but also about learning who the UWAFT team is.

Dan put on his skates and got fellow skaters into our booth to get their learning on! He also gave away some sunglasses…he soon was not the only one with UWAFT swag on the rink.

Here is a young professional discussing the logistics of the car and architecture of the engine with Dan.

As the day went on, more and more people came to sign our pledge…

“U” for UWAFT!

Here we have another youngster sporting some UWAFT gear after we gave his grandpa all the details.

After a few fun-filled and packed hours…the team wraps up the tables and gets on their way home to warm up! What a successful event!

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Cal State LA Shifts into the Future Autonomously

Written By: Jennifer Bulnes

Last week at Cal State LA, the CSULA EcoCAR3 team was pleased to share its road with a Silicon Valley startup company, Varden Labs.

Former students of the University of Waterloo originally established the company in Canada. Ironically, the University of Waterloo is one of two Canadian schools currently participating in EcoCAR3 Year 2 of the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) like CSULA.

Co-founder, Mike Skupien, showed the specifications of the indicatively designed, 4 passenger, all electric, autonomous car to students, faculty, guests and local media. From its 3D laser scanner (Lidar), GPS Antennas, sensors and computer system to emergency safety switches, after all safety first, right?

Passengers were shuttled at speeds of up to 7 mph on a 10 mph winding and hilly road that overlooked the Los Angeles Mountains.

“There are two types of people that respond to this,” as Mike Reid, Strategic Partner of Varden Labs stated. “The interested Engineering standpoint and the business aspects interest,” Reid added. Communications Manager, Jennifer Bulnes, then asked, “What do you think is unique about Cal State LA and EcoCAR3?” and Reid responded, “With CSULA EcoCAR3, it’s a mutual understanding.” Meaning, the team sees the value in both aspects.

Varden Labs plans to extend their testing pilot over the summer, of 2016, to businesses and universities. For a ride into the future, test their autonomous car.

Stay connected with details and updates on our Facebook page and don’t forget to hit Like.

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YOU Can Design the Next Official Gas Monkey Garage T-Shirt

Put your design skills to the test and maybe you’ll see your design in our store! Click the image to submit your design.

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Where Are They Now: Ohio State’s Abbey Will

When Abbey Will (née Underwood) signed on to serve as outreach coordinator for The Ohio State University’s EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge team, she was hoping to get some real-world experience.

Not only did Abbey discover a job she loved and attain learning valuable skills for her future career at Marathon Pipe Line LLC, she also made memories that have stuck with her today.

“I was looking for something that would give me experience in community outreach, specifically with schools, and it turned out EcoCAR did just that,” she said. “It’s really how I figured out what I wanted to do and I became passionate about it. I liked all the job functions.”

It was the 2010-11 school year and Abbey, a senior and marketing major, was given the task of visiting schools, museums and public events to talk about vehicles powered by alternative fuels, as well as Ohio State’s EcoCAR team. She was also working to generate media coverage about the team, writing press releases and developing strategies to promote the program.

“At the time, it was just great to get out and talk about the program,” she said. “You met a lot of people around the state and in the automotive industry.”

Today, Abbey works in Findlay, Ohio as a damage prevention analyst for Marathon Pipe Line LLC, having parlayed her experiences into a career.

“When I interviewed with Marathon Pipe Line, I was able to talk about my work as an outreach coordinator and that I gained these skills in community outreach and communications from EcoCAR,” she said. “Today, I’m educating people about measures that can be taken for safe digging practices and what to do in a pipeline emergency.”

With pipelines in 16 states, Abbey coordinates education programs for public schools and property owners. The programs she oversees instruct people about calling 811 prior to digging so utility companies can be notified and mark the locations of underground utility lines before the first shovel goes into the ground.

Through EcoCAR, Abbey said she learned all the things she does in her current job, like building a communications plan, implementing it and tracking results.

And of course, as a team competing with other schools in the Big Ten Conference, there was plenty of healthy competition.

“You were always trying to keep up with the Joneses,” she said. “When it came down to it we were always friends, but you were always checking out to see what the others were doing.”

One tradition that Abbey remembers fondly was the annual tailgate with Penn State before the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions took to the football field.

“We would tour each other’s facility and then have the cars on display and educate the public about EcoCAR,” Abbey said. “It was a great bonding experience and something that I really enjoyed.

“It made it less of a competition and gave us a chance to know one and other on a personal level and learn from each other. And I find that in my job today, we’re always sharing different ideas when we work with different companies and learning from each other so it’s very similar to my experience with EcoCAR.”

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