Wednesday, June 16, 2010

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 DiseƱo 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