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!