Florida Solar
Energy Center Sponsors EnergyWhiz Olympics
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by Adrienne Henzmann
Public Affairs Coordinator, Florida Solar Energy Center
On Saturday, May 7, the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC)
was one of the busiest places under the sun.
The 2005 EnergyWhiz
Olympics started early that day with more than 400 middle school and high school
students, their families and teachers getting ready for the day's activities.
The students, carrying their model-sized hydrogen cars and solar cars, made their
way to check-in, then on to vehicle weigh-in and technical judging by volunteer
judges - primarily engineers from the nearby Kennedy Space Center, the Florida
Solar Energy Center and a number of local engineering societies. These were just
the first steps in a day of fun and educational activities to learn more about
alternative fuels, solar energy and hydrogen.
FSEC's EnergyWhiz Olympics has its roots in the "Junior Solar Sprint"
event, first conducted in 1992 as a competition among middle school teams from
across Florida. Students designed, built and raced model-sized cars, using photovoltaic
panels to provide power. Two years ago, a hydrogen component called the "High
School Hydrogen Sprint" was added to the event.
New this year
was the "Hands-on Hydrogen Demonstration Race" by the top eight teams
in the "Middle School Science Bowl." The top teams were given hydrogen
fuel cells and were challenged to design and build model-sized moving vehicles
with hydrogen storage. Teams then raced the vehicles at the EnergyWhiz Olympics.
The science bowl, sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office
of Science, features both a question-and-answer competition and the hands-on engineering
component. The program held at FSEC was one of 23 regional competitions. The winning
teams from the regional competitions will compete in the National Science Bowl
held in June at Golden, Colorado.
In the
two-phase High School Hydrogen Sprint, teams of two to six students design and
build cars, using a small commercial PEM fuel cell. The students also write, produce
and give entertaining and informative 10-minute presentations on hydrogen technology.
The High School Hydrogen Sprint was developed to provide a hands-on opportunity
for high school students to explore the emerging hydrogen technologies. Their
vehicles must meet certain weight and size specifications, but beyond that, materials
and design parameters are wide open. Hydrogen for the fuel is produced by electrolysis
powered by photovoltaics. Vehicles are judged on design, technical merit, innovation
and performance on a 7-meter track.
The teams are also judged on their presentations, which ranged from videos to
live-performance skits. Judging criteria include scientific accuracy, innovation,
and presentation skills.
At the end of
the day, the proud parents, teachers and students-many with trophies and ribbons,
in addition to their vehicles, in hand-slowly made their way to the life-sized
vehicles in the parking lot. Although most of those vehicles are fueled by fossil
fuels, those who rode in them this evening had a vision of the potential of the
hydrogen economy, based on the potential that they had seen in the knowledge,
the technical savvy and the foresight of the student participants of the EnergyWhiz
Olympics.
© 2005. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of the National
Hydrogen Association.
This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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