Join Us for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Grand Prize Event

As stakeholders in the DASH+ high school student contest, we want to let you know that its parent competition - the competition for the best 100 MPGe production-capable cars - is entering its final stage this Thursday, and you're invited to participate. Join us in Washington, D.C. or online!

On September 16th in Washington, D.C., The X PRIZE Foundation will award the $10 million purse of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, a competition that has inspired a new generation of fuel-efficient vehicles.

Half of the $10 million prize will be awarded to the Mainstream Class winner and half will be split between the two winners in the Alternative Class - one vehicle with side-by-side seating and one tandem seating vehicle.

The award ceremony is free and open to the public. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet the winning and finalist teams and get an up close look at the vehicles and technologies that will shape the future of the automotive industry.

DATE/TIME:
The presentation will commence on Thursday, September 16 at 10:30 A.M. EDT (media registration and seating begins at 10:00 A.M.)

LOCATION:
Historical Society of Washington, D.C. 801 K Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001

SPEAKERS:
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; Progressive Insurance President and CEO Glenn Renwick; and X PRIZE Foundation Chairman and CEO Dr. Peter H. Diamandis.

Other notable guest speakers and attendees include X PRIZE Foundation Board Member and Huffington Post co-founder/Editor-in-Chief, Arianna Huffington and Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos.

STREAMING VIDEO:
A live video broadcast of the ceremony can be viewed here.

INTERACT LIVE:
Connect and participate live with other viewers here.

DASH+ on the White House Office of Science and Technology Blog

Check out a blog post from Connie Bezanson, Education and Outreach Technology Manager for the Vehicles Technology Program at the U.S. Department of Energy, about the DASH+ grand prize trip.

Winning High-School Students Drive Dashboard Design


I recently had the opportunity to meet the winning team of a national high-school student contest called DASH+, which challenged high school teams to design the vehicle dashboard of the future –a dashboard that provides visual feedback that would help drivers maximize fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The contest is part of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, a $10 million competition to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles. The Department of Energy sponsored the contest as part of its commitment to education, and in particular its commitment to engage students in the topics of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Read the full blog post here

DASH+ Grand Prize Experience Wraps up in Michigan

Our DASH+ Grand Prize Winners, EDV Technologies continued their action-packed VIP tour of Motor City with more unique opportunities to learn about the automotive and environmental industries from an insider’s perspective.




The team, along with Connie Bezanson from the U.S. Department of Energy, team mentor Kevin Schantz, and dads Jim Moghtader and Val Noronha visited the College for Creative Studies where they met with an admissions counselor and had a design session with a CCS professor.




The team visited the environmentally friendly "green roof" Ford Rouge Factory, where Ford F-150s are assembled....




....and took in a Detroit Tigers game.



They met with environmental professionals and toured the facilities used to test emissions standards at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prior to heading out to the Michigan International Speedway to witness the final stages of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition. After meeting with the competing teams and checking out the cars, they toured the MIS grounds and garages, and were guests of honor at the DASH+ awards ceremony. Their visit was capped off with a spin on the MIS track in the Official Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Pace Car.




And after three amazing days in Michigan, Team EDV headed home to Santa Barbara.....

Greetings from Motor City!

The trip has gotten off to a great start! This morning, Kelvin, Jake and Nikhil wowed our panel of auto experts with the presentation of their dashboard of the future. The panel was particularly impressed by the dashboard’s ability to award Green Points for eco-friendly driving. The auto industry experts recognized the importance of incentivizing more fuel-efficient driving and leveraging shared information through social networks. Again and again, the panel expressed their admiration of the team’s hard work and good thinking.

Following the presentation by EDV Technologies, the panel engaged in a thoughtful Q&A session with the students. The team was asked about:

·Their motivation for developing such a forward-thinking design

·The unintended consequences of a system that rewards drivers for particular driving habits

·What types of audience research was conducted by the team

After the panel, the team was joined by leading battery expert Ann Marie Sastry of Sakti3 for a private lunch focused on innovation. During the lunch, the team learned about Dr. Sastry’s experience in the industry and received valuable feedback and advice.

Later in the afternoon, the team toured the museum with an archivist who walked the team through the history of the automobile. At the conclusion of the tour, he reminded the students that the future of The Henry Ford Museum depends on continued innovations from young minds like EDV Technologies.



Then we turned the team loose in the Greenfield Village for a ride on a real Model T and an exploration of the lives of past inventors, including Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers.

We’ve had a great first day here in Detroit. Check back tomorrow for an overview of the day’s activities.

Only Three Days Left Before EDV's Grand Prize Experience Begins!

The DASH+ team is excited for next week’s victory lap in Detroit! We will be traveling with Grand Prize winner, EDV Technologies, to Motor City where the team will have the unique opportunity to learn about the automotive and environmental industries from an insider’s perspective.

To start the week off, Team EDV - Jake Moghtader, Nikhil Shinday and Kelvin Noronha, with mentor Kevin Schantz - will visit The Henry Ford, where they will present their dashboard of the future to a panel of auto experts. They will also have lunch with Ann Marie Sastry, one of the auto industry’s most influential battery experts. The team will also visit the Ford Rouge Factory, where Ford F-150s are assembled.

While in Detroit, they will have the opportunity to take their dashboard to the next level with software used by automotive designers at the College for Creative Studies, observe environmental professionals at work and tour the facilities used to test emissions standards at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and finally, visit the Michigan International Speedway to witness the final stages of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition and meet the competing teams.

Be sure to check back in through next week as we keep you posted on the trip! You can also follow the Grand Prize experience on Twitter @DashPlusContest.

Congratulations to EDV Technologies, DASH+ Winner!

After tallying more than 10,000 online votes that were cast from all 50 states, EDV Technologies from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, CA, has been named the DASH+ Grand Prize winner!

EDV (El Diseño Verde) team members Jack Moghtader, Nikhil Shinday and Kelvin Noronha, with mentor Kevin Schantz, created a dashboard concept that continuously calculates maximum fuel economy. The dashboard alerts the driver of environmental impact and awards GreenPoints for eco-friendly driving.

You can see the team’s winning dashboard design, technical plan and pitch video here.

The team learned of their win today on live television during KEY News This Morning, a Santa Barbara morning show. Afterwards, they enjoyed a celebratory breakfast with Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider and Goleta Mayor Eric Onnen, as well as their high school principal Mark Swanitz and a representative from the Santa Barbara School District.

In July, EDV will head to Detroit for an exciting VIP experience where they will pitch their ideas to automotive industry representatives, see environmental professionals at work, learn more about college opportunities and meet competing teams in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.

I’d also like to extend congratulations to our semi-finalist teams: DASH Tech of the Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, MI, and Harker Innovation of the Harker School in San Jose, CA. These teams are an inspiration and proof that our nation’s students will pave the way for innovation and drive change across industries. Thank you to everyone that helped drive change today with the DASH+ teams.

--Mitch Aiken, Director of Education, Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE

Only Seven Days Left to Vote – Help choose the DASH+ Winner Today!

We’re about to reach the finish line, and our teams need your votes in the final days of the contest. The DASH+ team is anxious to see which of the three semi-finalists has accrued the most votes.

Next week, our team will be hard at work combining the scores from the independent, expert panel of judges with the public voting tallies to see which team will be doing its victory lap in Detroit this summer.

We are just about finished planning the Grand Prize trip to Detroit. It’s going to be an incredible experience, and we’re excited to reward members of the winning team for all of their hard work.

Until then, the three semi-finalist teams need your votes to win, so be sure to continue voting. Let your family, friends and neighbors know to vote at http://fuelourfuturenow.com/contest once a day, every day through May 31.

I’d like to congratulate all three teams for a job well done and wish you all good luck in the final stretch!

--Mitch Aiken, Director of Education, Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE

Vote for Your Favorite DASH+ Semi-Finalist

We are almost at the halfway mark of online voting to determine the Grand Prize winner of DASH+! Many of you have already voted, but don’t forget that you are able to vote once every day through May 31 on the contest website.

If you haven’t voted yet, here is some information about each of the three semi-finalist teams:

DASH Tech from The Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, MI. DASH Tech’s plan includes a feature that allows the driver to create a customizable 3D avatar that turns eco-friendly driving into a competition with friends and communicates how the driver’s behavior impacts fuel economy and the environment.

EDV Technologies from Dos Pueblos Senior High School in Santa Barbara, CA. Team EDV, which stands for El Diseño Verde, incorporates technology that continuously calculates maximum fuel economy based on previous performance of other vehicles on similar road conditions. The dashboard alerts the driver of environmental impact and awards GreenPoints, creating an eco-friendly competition.

Harker Innovation Team from The Harker School in San Jose, CA. The Harker Innovation Team proposed a tree-shaped speedometer, called eHEART, to track the driver’s environmental progress by calculating statistics such as added expenses from driving quickly and greater savings from regenerative breaking.

Your votes decide which team will win the Grand Prize to travel to Detroit this summer where they will have the opportunity to pitch their dashboard design to representatives from the automotive industry, receive feedback on their entry and meet the teams competing in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.

So visit http://fuelourfuturenow.com/contest to view all three teams’ designs, technical plans and videos and vote for your favorite.

—The DASH+ Team

Judging the DASH+ Entries

In working at one of the leading experiential science museums, I have a keen interest in seeing science and technology fully infused throughout society. Beyond that, I like to think of myself as an impassioned “car guy.” So I jumped when the opportunity presented itself to help judge the DASH+ high school contest envisioning environmentally responsible driver interfaces of the future.

At the Saint Louis Science Center I’ve helped the center transition from a “learning by seeing” institution to a “learning by doing” institution. And that is precisely what the DASH+ contest experience has provided for these high school students. The contest presented teenagers with the opportunity to theorize and design something with importance and relevance to today’s world.

I was pleased to see so many teams not only eagerly accept the challenge, but also succeed with designs that were inventive, resourceful, realistic and practical. As a fellow inhabitant of our resource-challenged planet, it’s extremely reassuring to see today’s young people show such passion in coming up with creative ways to solve practical engineering problems and consider heady environmental issues.

I was honored to serve as a judge for the DASH+ high school contest and want to congratulate all of the teams on a job well done. I’m excited to see the results as the contest progresses to the public phase, where online public voting begins on May 1. Be sure to visit http://fuelourfuturenow.com/contest and do your part in helping to choose the winner.

—John Wharton, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Facilities, Saint Louis Science Center

LEGOLAND, Philadelphia Style

The following post was written by Mitch Aiken, Director of Education, and originally appeared on the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE blog on March 20, 2010.


LEGO Education has built an impressive display here at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference in Philadelphia. In the LEGO exhibit space, teachers and students can explore the wonderful array of LEGO products designed to enrich the study of Science and Engineering.




I got hands-on practice with alternative vehicles including...

Human powered (By hand crank!)

Wind Powered...

And Solar Powered...

Last night, we returned to the Franklin Institute for a screening of IMAX HUBBLE 3D an amazing documentary which chronicles the latest (and final) shuttle mission to the Hubble space telescope, to make necessary repairs and upgrades that should extend the Hubble’s productive life by years. This great documentary premiers this weekend and I encourage you to see it in an IMAX theatre near you.

Pillar in the Carina Nebula...

The Butterfly Nebula...

Fueling Our Future In Philadelphia

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Education team is presenting at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference in Philadelphia this week. Our education program and Fuel Our Future Now (FOFN) website resources are featured in the Discovery Education booth on the exhibit floor, visited by a steady stream of inquisitive science teachers each day. The theme of the conference this year is Connecting Science Past with Science Future so discussions range from Ben Franklin’s kite to….The Dashboard of The Future of course. Appropriate topics for FOFN, a US Department of Energy sponsored program!



Our DASH+ contest challenges teams of high school students nationwide to design a dashboard that will help drivers save fuel by providing feedback on how their driving is affecting their fuel efficiency. The entries have all been submitted, and we are currently making some tough decisions -- selecting the best of the best to advance to the next level. After a round of judging by auto and energy experts, the top three entries will be online at Fuel Our Future Now in May for online voting. I’m encouraging the teachers here to have their students visit the site and vote for their favorite dashboard. I’ve also suggested that they make an assignment out of it and have their students justify their selections based on the science behind the designs. It is school after all.



Tonight we were treated to a screening of Discovery’s new documentary series, life. The evening was hosted by The Franklin Institute, where we also had a chance to reflect on transportation of the past.

$50 gift card for submitting your DASH+ entry!

We've been hearing lots of feedback about how hard teams are working on the DASH+ contest.

That's why we are proud to announce an additional reward for EVERY team that meets contest requirements and submits an entry.

Along with your official certificates, we will be sending out $50 gift cards per team—that can be used as cash—so your team can celebrate your participation.

Once your entry is submitted, enjoy a treat on us!

Remember, you MUST submit by 11:59 PM ET on March 1st to receive the $50 celebration money for your team.

Sign in now and good luck!

-The DASH+ Team


No purchase necessary to enter or win. Entries must be received by March 1, 2010. Void where prohibited. See official rules for eligibility requirements and full details at FuelOurFutureNow.com/contest.

The Henry Ford Helps Shape the DASH+ Grand Prize

The Contest that Challenges Students to Drive Change Today Teams Up with The Global Resource for American History and Innovation

A team of tomorrow’s scientists, innovators, engineers and designers will win the DASH+ Grand Prize and head to Detroit this summer for a VIP experience. In addition to pitching their eco-friendly dashboard to automakers for a chance to influence future vehicle production, these high school students will have a behind-the-scenes tour of The Henry Ford, exploring the rich history of the auto industry and the innovators who built it.

• The Grand Prize experience at The Henry Ford may include:
• The chance to meet with one of America’s most prominent innovators
• An awards ceremony attended by leadership and dignitaries
• A tour with the museum’s curator that goes beyond the museum room floor – looking at cars and other innovations not seen by the general public
• The opportunity to be promoted among The Henry Ford’s future innovators
• A close-up look at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour that is part of the Dearborn Truck Plant, where the F-150 truck is built

The high school students’ Grand Prize experience will include events with other DASH+ promotional partners, as well as an event with Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competitors. Click here for more information.

Is Your Team Using Your Online Workspace?

Don't go it alone!

We've built an online workspace for you to make it even easier to compete in DASH+. This means your teammates can upload draft versions of the dashboard, technical plan, and video until the March 1st deadline.

Simply Sign In to your team's account and start using My Team Toolbox.

Use the Submit buttons to upload your drafts and access the collaborative workspace. Nothing is final until you click on SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY.

Don't forget the deadline to submit your entire entry is March 1st.

Good luck!
The DASH+ Team

Integrating DASH+ Across School Projects

Pictured Above: Students and their adult mentor, Ron Grosinger, from Memorial High School in West New York, NJ, are recognized at the DASH+ launch event on October 19, 2009.

At Memorial High School in West New York, New Jersey, we are no strangers to pressure. In addition to competing in the DASH+ contest, we have the added pressure of having an electric car to refine, a ground-up race car to build, an electric bicycle and a bike generator to complete. Last year, five students and I dedicated 700 after school hours to building an electric car in four months. That small team has evolved into a daytime class with 16 students, and we can’t afford to just simply spend more hours of work on one project, as this would take time away from our other projects.

To solve this I have decided to go back to basic fundamentals. Fundamentals say that you must look at what you have and not at what you don’t have. In that mindset, we have spent the first half of the school year learning science and building projects. We have learned about how chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy, how batteries work and how all of this relates to the environment. Rather than look at how little time is left before the March 1 contest submission deadline, I have instead looked at how to integrate DASH+ into all of our other projects. This way we can move forward with all projects while involving more students. However, that is easier said than done. As I can’t just tell the students that we are integrating DASH+ into what we are doing, I use fundamental lessons to accomplish this.

For instance, the drawing of the dashboard design and placement of gauges can relate to our other project, the ground-up race car. This way if I do a lesson on concept sketch drawing, the race car team can benefit. I have used the DASH+ Webinar “Dashboard Design: From Concept to Reality” to inspire and teach about one point perspective drawings. I also plan to hold a fundamental introductory lesson on drafting by using a CAD program. This will cover any measurement the dashboard layout blueprints may need as well as training for our bicycle generator project, where students are drafting and building a metal bracket that attaches a car alternator to a bicycle wheel to produce power.

Moving forward, there is a balance of time to maintain: fundamental time vs. project time. I will distribute that time as I see fit and let you know how we are doing in a future blog entry. Well that’s it for now. Thank you to the DASH+ team and good luck to all of those competing!

--Ron Grosinger, Technology Education, Memorial High School

Don't Miss "Dashboard Design: From Concept to Reality"

Competing in the DASH+ contest? Don't miss this interactive Webinar!

WHAT:
A free Webinar called "Dashboard Design: From Concept to Reality".

This Webinar tells you what you need to know about creating the look of a dashboard, with an emphasis on how dashboard design affects driver behavior, energy efficiency, and safety.

WHO:
Michael Tsay, Professor of Transportation Design at Art Center College of Design; and Manager/Principal Designer, Honda R&D, North America

Marques McCammon, Chief Marketing Officer, Aptera Motors, a leading designer of efficient commuter vehicles and a competitor for the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE

WHEN:
Thursday, February 4, at 7 PM ET

HOW TO REGISTER:
http://links.discoveryeducation.com/dashboarddesign

Reserve your space for this free Webinar today!

Scenes from the NAIAS Education Day

As Mitch detailed in his post on Wednesday, the DASH+ team was in Detroit attending the Education Day at the North American International Auto Show earlier this week. Below are some scenes from Education Day, as we were able to share information about the DASH+ contest with hundreds of students and teachers.

Here's Mitch (Left) at the Detroit Auto Show with members of the DASH+ team, our partner at The Henry Ford, and high school students who plan to submit an idea for the next-generation dashboard.


We were able to get up close access to some of the cars competing in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.

DASH+ was located on Electric Avenue at the Auto Show!

Hundreds of students were able to learn about DASH+!

DASH+ at the NAIAS Education Day

We are having a great time in Detroit, sharing the DASH+ opportunity with high school students and their teachers, and planning the grand prize experience for the ultimate winners of the DASH+ competition. We are here for Education Day at the NAIAS, and getting to take in all of the sights and sounds of the Auto Show.

We spent the day yesterday visiting the College for Creative Studies and The Henry Ford. We were able to spend time with representatives of the Transportation Design Department of The College for Creative Studies seeing the state of the art facilities where students learn the art of car design and create scale models of their designs. The students are incredibly skilled and talented and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of their designs on the road in the future.

In four fast-paced hours at the Henry Ford, we got a small sampling of the vast offerings and facilities of the museum complex, and the auto assembly plant. We saw incredible artifacts from the history of innovation in America, from chair design to steam locomotives to a modular home designed by Buckminster Fuller in 1946. So the museum is by no means just about cars, but there are plenty of those on display as well, going all the way back to Henry Ford’s first prototype of the Model T. We also explored Ford’s Rouge Plant where F150 trucks are assembled. We toured a working assembly line that would surely impress Henry Ford today. The plant also features an environmentally friendly green roof!

We are inspired by everything we saw yesterday and are currently brainstorming about sharing these experiences with the winning DASH+ team here in Detroit this summer.

Now we are on the floor of the Auto Show, in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE display area. We have an education corner here today, and are busy telling the hundreds of high school students in attendance about DASH+.

There’s still time to enter the DASH+ competition. Teams must register by February 1, and entries must be submitted by March 1.

--Mitch Aiken, Director of Education, Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE

Register now for the first DASH+ Webinar on Jan. 19!

Don’t forget that February 1 is the last day to register your team of high school students for DASH+, the national competition to design the automotive dashboard of the future. After February 1, you will still have one full month to design, describe and pitch your team’s idea.

Whether your DASH+ team is assembled or you're still getting your team together, the timing is right to learn more. Our first Webinar will help you understand exactly how a dashboard works by detailing the science, technology, and design that contribute to its operation.

Register now for the January 19th Webinar at 7:00 PM ET. This interactive session will be led by two smart, savvy automobile industry experts:

• Simon Hauger, a teacher and director of the West Philadelphia High School Automotive Academy's innovative Electric vehicle program, is renowned for engaging students in designing, building, and competing with Alternative Fuel Vehicles.

• Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky is an unconventional scientist and author of The Physics of NASCAR, a book which explains the science behind the popular sport.

Together, these two respected scholars and car enthusiasts will answer your questions and offer advice that will ensure you make it to the finish line! These Webinars are for students and adult mentors.

An archived version will be available on the contest Web site, but joining the Webinar live is your shot at asking questions and getting instant feedback!