DH2S Students Make Future Car
Honda and Toyota have nothing on the technology developed by Lee Strecker’s class at Darien High School.
“We had just finished building a full-size hovercraft and a kid said to me, ‘Let’s try something no one else has ever done,’ ” Strecker said.
Three years later, Strecker’s students are entering the “third phase” of constructing a fully functioning fuel cell-powered car. The hybrid engine is powered by battery and fuel cell, which produces useable electricity by stripping hydrogen. Emitting only water and heat as byproducts, the fuel cell is “among the most efficient manmade machines pretty much ever,” said senior Tim Grejtak, head electrical engineer.
“Honda isn’t even considering a hydrogen hybrid yet,” Tim said.
After mounting the fuel cell in a student-built go-cart frame two years ago, a driver reached top speeds of 26 miles per hour while racing the car around the Darien High School track.
“With the innovative students we have here, they ran with it,” Strecker said. “We’re doing some pretty far-out things car companies aren’t even thinking about yet.”
After the test run, the students developed a carbon fiber shell to protect the driver and have lowered the car’s center of gravity so that the driver does not have to lean as much. The car has since reached speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour.
“Our driver felt very, very scared,” said senior Michael McLaughlin, head engineer for the project.
The students are now in the process of creating an automatic shifter to switch between power sources.
“How hard you step on the accelerator will determine from which source you get your power,” said Tim, noting that the fuel cell has the same horsepower as a weedwacker. “So you’re sending your weedwacker along at 30 miles per hour, which is just telling you how efficient it is.”
Tim and Michael will travel to Baltimore with Strecker on March 22 to present the fuel cell car to an audience of 1,100 at the International Technology Education Association conference.
“It doesn’t get much better than this. Both of these gentlemen are very pleased to show what they’ve done. They can explain the whole project soup to nuts. They understand what’s going on better than I do,” Strecker said.
With power comes responsibility, and Strecker requires that his students fulfill their mission by educating the community about the project. In addition to presenting locally to the Senior Men’s Association and Kiwanis Club, 13 students traveled to China last July to participate in the Shanghai International Youth Science and Technology Exposition.
Tim and Michael, childhood friends and neighbors, say they complement each other when they take the fuel cell on the road.
“I’m a nerd, essentially. Mike is the people-person,” Tim said.
It’s fun to see an audience’s reaction to the fuel cell, they said.
“What we’re doing here is what you’re going to see in the cars of the future,” Tim said. “It’s definitely, if not what it would be, what it should be.”
The project’s visionary nature precluded a strong collaborative network. Few universities are working on what Strecker’s high school class is pioneering.
“This project is cool because we’ve turned from followers to leaders,” Strecker said.
More than 35 students in Strecker’s “Systems of Technology 2,” a hands-on engineering, problem-solving course, work on the fuel cell, often after school, on weekends, and during the summer.
“It’s more than just a class,” Strecker said.
“I’d call it a team,” Tim suggested.
More than an engineering feat, the project also requires welders, designers, and information technology support.
“Any kid that comes in here, they’re part of the project. This is like the ultimate No Child Left Behind,” said Strecker.
The project depends on parent association grants and community donations, but “technology is expensive,” according to Strecker.
”Money does not last long here.” Michael said.
Tim, a semi-finalist at the Intel Science Talent Search, won $1,000 for his project “The Design and Construction of a Novel Hydrogen-fueled Engine.
The prize money helped finance the fuel cell project.
“I guess you could say I’m addicted to hydrogen,” Tim said. “I am intimately connected to the field of alternative fuels.”
DarienTimes
“We had just finished building a full-size hovercraft and a kid said to me, ‘Let’s try something no one else has ever done,’ ” Strecker said.
Three years later, Strecker’s students are entering the “third phase” of constructing a fully functioning fuel cell-powered car. The hybrid engine is powered by battery and fuel cell, which produces useable electricity by stripping hydrogen. Emitting only water and heat as byproducts, the fuel cell is “among the most efficient manmade machines pretty much ever,” said senior Tim Grejtak, head electrical engineer.
“Honda isn’t even considering a hydrogen hybrid yet,” Tim said.
After mounting the fuel cell in a student-built go-cart frame two years ago, a driver reached top speeds of 26 miles per hour while racing the car around the Darien High School track.
“With the innovative students we have here, they ran with it,” Strecker said. “We’re doing some pretty far-out things car companies aren’t even thinking about yet.”
After the test run, the students developed a carbon fiber shell to protect the driver and have lowered the car’s center of gravity so that the driver does not have to lean as much. The car has since reached speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour.
“Our driver felt very, very scared,” said senior Michael McLaughlin, head engineer for the project.
The students are now in the process of creating an automatic shifter to switch between power sources.
“How hard you step on the accelerator will determine from which source you get your power,” said Tim, noting that the fuel cell has the same horsepower as a weedwacker. “So you’re sending your weedwacker along at 30 miles per hour, which is just telling you how efficient it is.”
Tim and Michael will travel to Baltimore with Strecker on March 22 to present the fuel cell car to an audience of 1,100 at the International Technology Education Association conference.
“It doesn’t get much better than this. Both of these gentlemen are very pleased to show what they’ve done. They can explain the whole project soup to nuts. They understand what’s going on better than I do,” Strecker said.
With power comes responsibility, and Strecker requires that his students fulfill their mission by educating the community about the project. In addition to presenting locally to the Senior Men’s Association and Kiwanis Club, 13 students traveled to China last July to participate in the Shanghai International Youth Science and Technology Exposition.
Tim and Michael, childhood friends and neighbors, say they complement each other when they take the fuel cell on the road.
“I’m a nerd, essentially. Mike is the people-person,” Tim said.
It’s fun to see an audience’s reaction to the fuel cell, they said.
“What we’re doing here is what you’re going to see in the cars of the future,” Tim said. “It’s definitely, if not what it would be, what it should be.”
The project’s visionary nature precluded a strong collaborative network. Few universities are working on what Strecker’s high school class is pioneering.
“This project is cool because we’ve turned from followers to leaders,” Strecker said.
More than 35 students in Strecker’s “Systems of Technology 2,” a hands-on engineering, problem-solving course, work on the fuel cell, often after school, on weekends, and during the summer.
“It’s more than just a class,” Strecker said.
“I’d call it a team,” Tim suggested.
More than an engineering feat, the project also requires welders, designers, and information technology support.
“Any kid that comes in here, they’re part of the project. This is like the ultimate No Child Left Behind,” said Strecker.
The project depends on parent association grants and community donations, but “technology is expensive,” according to Strecker.
”Money does not last long here.” Michael said.
Tim, a semi-finalist at the Intel Science Talent Search, won $1,000 for his project “The Design and Construction of a Novel Hydrogen-fueled Engine.
The prize money helped finance the fuel cell project.
“I guess you could say I’m addicted to hydrogen,” Tim said. “I am intimately connected to the field of alternative fuels.”
DarienTimes
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