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M GC AVIATION CAMPUS SUPPORTS DEKALB COUNTY ENGINEERING TEAM IN SOLAR CAR CHALLENGE
By: Tricia Purser Release Date:08/21/2012
(Cochran, GA) - The Georgia Aviation Campus of Middle Georgia College recently supported the DeKalb County Engineering Team in the Solar Car Challenge, an event where students learn to design, build, and race solar cars. The engineering Team is comprised of students ranging from high school freshman to upcoming college freshman from the metro Atlanta area. The team worked at the Aviation Campus to construct their solar car, Endeavour, which became the first solar car from Georgia to participate in the Winston Solar Challenge, a closed track event at the Texas Motor Speedway. The team was presented the Engineering Award at the Challenge for their work on the Endeavour car.
The Institute of Applied Aerospace Research on the Aviation Campus provided the team the facilities and assistance they needed to build the carbon fiber body and the chrome moly tube chassis of the Endeavour car. The Aircraft Structural Technology department helped provide the team with space, equipment, and cleanup, and the Fleet Maintenance department helped them with painting the trailer used to house the car and also provided hangar space. Dynamic Paint Solutions donated the use of their large oven for curing the carbon fiber body, and provided the paint for the Endeavour car. The Engineering team also stayed in the Aviation residence hall during their time on the campus.
Rick Krontz, the Director of the Institute of Applied Aerospace Research, said the event was a great opportunity to establish relationships with other schools such as Dekalb County High School Engineering Team and the Georgia Institute of Technology Solar Jackets. “This project enabled high school students to apply engineering lessons in a real world setting,” he said. “Getting kids excited about science provides the students a chance to experience many aspects of science and engineering, such as building a solar car from conceptual ideas to design, engineering, fabricating, and learning firsthand about camaraderie, teamwork, and work ethics.”
“This learning experience could be the catalyst for Middle Georgia College to become more involved in green technology and develop a program to establish common ground between our own GAMES (Georgia Academy of Aviation, Mathematics, Engineering, and Science) students, Engineering, Research and Development, and Technical programs,” said Krontz. “Maybe one day we will have our own team and compete in something that involves manufacturing and green technology.”
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