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Fuel Cell-Powered Go-KartProject Mim ics R eal W orld P roduct D evelopm en

FIVE years ago, LeonStrecker's technologyeducation class at DarienHigh School came upwith the idea of building

a fuel cell-powered go-kart. In previ-ous years, the class had worked onother creations, such as electric carsthat competed in a state-sponsoredrace and a full-size hovercraft. But

students had not taken on anythinganywhere near this caliber. Thedesign was fairly simplethe teamused a 1.2 kilowatt fuel cell on an oldgo kart, which served as a mule, ortest-bed of components, for futureprojects. Although the fuel cell hadno more power than a weed-whacker.

Amanda Fuller w as a student in atechnology education class taught byLeon Strecker iStrecker@darienps.

org) w hen she w rote this article. Sh eserved as the class s public relationsspecialist.

By Ama nda Fuller

the team tha t year was able toachieve speed s of 25 mph.

The Go-Kart s EvolutionAs goals have been accomplished,

Mr. Strecker's s tuden ts set new o nes.And as fuel cell technology has ad-vanced, the go-kart project has con-tinued to improve. Before there waseven a real market for them, Darien

High students took on the project ofbuilding a fuel cell hybrid car. Usinga combination of custom made high-end batteries and a new fuel cell,our new and improved m odel hasachieved spee ds up to 37 mph on aflat track.

This new version has involvedthinking "outside of the box." Wehave integrated new hub motors intothe design of the innovative "plug-inhybrid," which has allowed for more

options in how we charge the bat-teries. We're also working on regen-erative braking and drive-by-wire

steering. Our goals for the currentmodel include that everyone in theclass will be able to drive the carinprevious years, only the smallest stu-dent could squeeze (uncomfortably )into the tight shell. We also want thevehicle to reach spe eds of more than40 mph. And we are working on "allintegration" to do statistical analy-sis and gather data from a pit crew

(similar to that that done in NASCARracing). Best Buy recently awardedus a $10,000 grant to fund work onthese improvements.

Challengesand Achievements

We've encountered many chal-lenges in riding th e wave of the learn-ing curve. For exam ple. General Mo-tors engineers w ho we worked withwere reluctant to share with us some

necessary information because theyhadn't patented it yet. And, althoughthe school supports us, it has also

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been a challenge to pay for th e proj-ect. Many pa rts and supplies for thevehicle are expensive. As it turns out,much of our funding has come fromdonations and grants.

What we are most proud of isthat this project is entirely design ed,fabricated, and researched by stu-

dents. Though a valuable mem berof the team, Mr. Strecker serv es onlyas a facilitator and he interferes withproduction as little as possible. Inthis program, the students are theteachers

According to our mission s tate-ment, our goal is to both educatethe community on alternative energyissues and allow stude nts to experi-ence and learn how to work togetheron an engineering research and de-

velopment project to solve real worldproblems." Students have attendedrelated technology conferences andhave published ar ticles about theproject in magazines, newspape rs,and video reviews. And we've beenfeatured in a documentary made byNew York University.

The project has also allowed us toget more involved in our community.

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The go-kart was researched,

designed, and built by students.

Students have presented the car lo-cally to groups like the Senior M en'sAssociation, and at the Father's DayCar Show, local teacher conventions,and the International TechnologyEducation Association conferencein Baltimore. We've also taken theproject abroad . Three years ago, Mr.Strecker took 13 students to Shang-hai to present their findings at a

youth science conference.Because of our involvement in

the local community, volunteershave come to work with us at theschool and teach us important skillsinvolved in welding, woodwo rking,and design. Members of our schoolcommunity take great pride in theaccomplishments of the technologyeducation stud ents, as evidencedby the fact that the principal bringsparents and other visitors to our lab

as part of a school tour.We have also had guest sp eakers

visit to talk about alternative energy.Students have had great communica-tion with car companies, includingToyota, which sent represe ntativesto make presentations about thecompany's new hybrid cars.

Student Benefits and RolesLast year, Mr. Strecker won the

American Star of Teaching Award in

recognition of his persisten ce in mak-ing sure that every stude nt gets in-volved and has a role in his technol-

ogy class. If a student wants to wowith design and structure, he or shemight work with the frame gro up.One who has studied electronics ancomputers might be made responble for microchip programming. Thstudent who serves as head engintakes charge of the overall m anag

ment of the project. The businessmanager is accountable for financwork on the vehicle. The educatioofficer organize s field trips, pr esetations, and signage. The IT officerupdates the website and supervisus e of computers . The mechanicaengineer researches, designs, andconstructs the frame, steering , bring, and mechanical transmissionThe electrical engineer manages allthe electrical aspects of the vehicl

The fabricators read drawings, mparts, and install com ponen ts on tcar. The ergonomie and safety engneers take charge of the safety anhandling of the car.

Although a student may be woring in Just one a rea, he or she stillha s the opportunity to learn abo uand participate with the other areFor example, in my work as publicrelations specialist, although I've hano actual construction experienc

still had to understand how the carworks, what aspects of the projectare currently being worked on, whois writing a particular grant, and soforth. Everybody works as a mem-ber of the team and understands allareas of the project. All students develop presentation, interpersointeraction, organization, researcand leaders hip skills. Students haa responsibility to their team to coplete their Jobs and they take real

ownership of the project.Overall, the fuel cell-powered

go-kart project has proven veryrewarding. All team members havlearned a great deal about technoogy and about working with otheIt has given stude nts an opportunito take responsibility for their owneducation and be mo tivated by theobligation to their pee rs, not Justby the desire for a good gra de. Ireally appre ciate the many valuab

experiences I've had since joinedthe teamincluding writing my fipublished article

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