Greenpower Student Electric Car Challenge to Help Kick Off Month of May

Huntsville, AL (April 11, 2017) -- In partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), along with support from Siemens and SCCA, the GreenpowerUSA Foundation announces that middle and high school students will be racing during Month of May at the Racing Capital of the World. The Greenpower Electric Car Challenge at IMS will take place on Monday, May 1, 2017, helping to kick off an exciting month of action at the Speedway.

The Greenpower Electric Car Challenge is a project-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning initiative for broad levels of education. This program leverages the excitement of motorsport to enhance teaching and learning of STEM-based subject matter and learning objectives.

Participating teams are invited to design, build and race a single-seat, student-driven electric car on the world-famous Grand Prix road circuit at IMS.   Greenpower races consist of two 90-minute heats with the winning team having gone the greatest distance in that time.

“Over 25 teams from across the United States and one International team from England have registered to race,” said Jacob Boyett, President of the GreenpowerUSA Foundation.  “All participating student teams will have the incredible opportunity to challenge themselves and compete on the iconic Indy Grand Prix track.”

“Young people are the future of motorsports and high-tech industries, and IMS remains committed to programs that link both through the power of racing,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles said. “We support Greenpower’s goal of linking education, industry and community through inspirational engineering projects and believe hosting this event at IMS helps achieve that goal.”

With a shared vision for the future of youth STEM education through motorsport, GreenpowerUSA Foundation’s partner, the Sport Car Club of America (SCCA), will handle race management at the event. SCCA has developed a rulebook, operations manual, technical specifications and scrutineering guide for the competition.

“GreenpowerUSA is a fantastic way for students to learn about motorsports and having fun with cars.  But beyond that, the Sports Car Club of America sees the program as an incredible tool for the enhancement of STEM skills in the United States,” explains Dan Helman, SCCA’s Board of Directors Vice Chairman.  “SCCA’s volunteers offer their expertise and time freely to help with event administration, scrutineering, scoring, flagging and more as a means of giving back to the community and ensuring a healthy future for auto racing in this country.”

The School of Engineering and Technology, IUPUI is proud to be an official event sponsor of GreenpowerUSA. “In addition to participation from our motorsports and energy engineering programs, scholarship awards will be given to students pursuing programs in the School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI for the top performing teams including sub-category awards, such as the best use of technology, said David J. Russomanno, Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology.

In addition to leadership, team-work, and critical thinking skills, the project delivers real-world, industry relevant, and multi-disciplinary technical skills.  Siemens PLM Software is the title sponsor and technology partner of Greenpower, providing design and analysis software to support many of the engineering and technology components of the program.

About GreenpowerUSA: The GreenpowerUSA Foundation was established in May 2014 in order to promote the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-based curriculum through a design, build, race competition of student-driven electric cars. The Foundation is a registered non-profit organization based in Huntsville, Alabama. For more information visit www.greenpowerusa.net.

About the SCCA: The Sports Car Club of America®, Inc., founded in 1944, is a 67,500-member motorsports organization that incorporates all facets of autocross, rally and road racing at both club and professional levels. With headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, the SCCA annually sanctions over 2,000 events through its 116 Regions and subsidiary divisions. To learn more, please visit www.scca.com.

About the School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI: The mission of the School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI is to be one of the best urban university leaders in the disciplines of engineering and technology recognized locally, nationally and internationally. The school's goal is to provide students an education that will give them the leverage to be leaders in their communities, industry and society. For additional information on the School of Engineering and Technology, go to http://www.engr.iupui.edu.