Media BLITZ Begins ZOOMING!

Southeast Michigan high school students showcase electric vehicles: Four high school teams showcased electric vehicles over the weekend during a performance test day hosted by Siemens VDO in Auburn Hills. The Huron Intermediate School District in Bad Axe, Summit Academy High School in Flat Rock, University High School in Ferndale and the William D. Ford Career Technical Center in the Wayne-Westland schools participated in the Innovative Vehicle Design program, in which high school students work with corporate partners to build one-person electric vehicles. The IVD program, an initiative of the Convergence Education Foundation, is built as an innovation, not a racing competition. Each team received $5,000 from a corporate partner matched by $5,000 from the foundation, a 10-month build window, and the leadership for all portions of the planning and development for the vehicle. The test day, phase one of the judging process, evaluated each team's vehicle performance. Teams were evaluated on the distance traveled during two 30-minute windows on two different track configurations. The second phase of judging will take place at Convergence 2006 next week, where teams will be further evaluated in the areas of engineering, presentation, ambassadorship and innovation. The winning team will be announced at the Convergence Education Foundation's Convergence 2006 booth Oct. 18 at Cobo Center. More at www.cef-trek.org.