Solar Cars and the Science Bowl

June 2010

The adult solar car race in San Antonio—Northside School District vs. MITRE. Bill Fetech (to the left behind the box top) kneels at the starting line and watches MITRE's car, which won the race. (Photo courtesy of Bobby Blount.)

Twenty-two MITRE employees from the McLean, Va., campus served as judges and competition officials at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) 2010 Solar Car Challenge. Heading the MITRE delegation was Bobby Blount, associate department head of MITRE's Field Intelligence Systems in San Antonio, Texas, who served as master of ceremonies for the race. The event took place as part of the DOE's 20th annual National Science Bowl® in Chevy Chase, Md., from April 29 to May 4.

"I was amazed at the creativity and innovation of the cars built this year," says Blount, a longtime Science Bowl volunteer. "The students worked extremely well together, especially given the changing race day conditions we faced with the rain, clouds, and sun."

Since 2003, the Car Race Challenge has been part of the middle school competition for the National Science Bowl, which the DOE launched in 1991 to inspire middle-and high-school students to excel in math and science and to pursue careers in those fields. Winners of the regional competitions receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete at the national competition.

One hundred and three teams from 42 states as well as the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands participated in this year's Science Bowl, which tests students' knowledge in all branches of science and math using a fast-paced quiz format similar to the game show Jeopardy! Eighteen MITRE employees served as volunteer judges, scorekeepers, and other officials for the academic portion of the competition.

In February, MITRE San Antonio staff hosted the DOE regional middle- and high-school academic event. In May, the site hosted the elementary school solar car competition. Blount and site colleagues Matthew Albin, Tim Farias, Bill Fetech, Andrea Kunz, Sheila Laris, Mike Leonard, Ron Rhoads, Jennifer Schmidt, Sam Suh, and Porter Taylor led these efforts. The solar car competition involved 500 elementary school students from across the state who worked in teams to design, build, and race their model cars. MITRE staff assisted students in designing and testing their vehicles and administered the event, which featured a special race—"So You Think You Can Build a Faster Solar Car than a Fifth Grader?" More than 1,000 fans cheered the drivers and crews of this year's event.

The Texas Solar Car Race, now in its 14th year, originated from a mentoring program for kids that Blount helped establish in 1996 in cooperation with two schools in San Antonio with a large percentage of at-risk students. Working with fellow MITRE volunteers and several eager students, the group decided to build remote solar race cars. When the DOE launched the Middle School Science Bowl seven years ago, representatives reached out to Blount and MITRE to host the regional academic competition and the solar car race.

"It's an honor to be a part of the regional and national competitions each year," Blount says. "These young people restore my belief that America can stay on top of the science and engineering career fields. We just need to get more students engaged by offering fun and competitive events like the Science Bowl."

—by Karina H. Wright

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