Purdue to stage evGrandPrix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The first Purdue Collegiate evGrandPrix will be held May 7 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the IMS's 100th Anniversary Indy 500 Emerging Tech Day.
The Collegiate evGrandPrix will build on the first evGrandPrix, held at Purdue's Grand Prix track in April. It was launched as a part of the Indiana Advanced Electric Vehicle Training and Education Consortium (I-AEVtec).
Students from Purdue and the Lafayette campus of Ivy Tech raced 17 electric-powered karts in the first race. The karts were designed and built by the students through courses developed by I-AEVtec.
Universities and colleges around the country will be invited to enter the Collegiate evGrandPrix in May. The winner will be the team that best blends kart design, race placement and energy efficiency during 100 laps of racing. Qualification runs and sprint races will be part of the event, which will provide $20,000 in scholarships. A special course will be built at the Speedway for the evGrandPrix.
Purdue plans to hold a preliminary evGrandPrix event at the University's Grand Prix track at the end of April. Students from Purdue and Ivy Tech's Lafayette campus will participate.
Emerging Tech Day also will feature solar-powered and hybrid-powered competitions aimed at colleges.
I-AEVtec was developed with a $6.1 million grant Purdue received to educate and train the workforce needed to design, manufacture and maintain advanced electric vehicles and the associated infrastructure. Purdue is partnering with the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College, Purdue University Calumet and Indiana University Northwest for the program.
I-AEVtec is developing certificate and associate degree programs for vehicle technicians, bachelor's and master's degree programs for electric vehicle design and manufacturing engineers, and a certificate program in electric vehicle safety for emergency responders. It also has established SmartEnergyHub.org, a website that offers course material to instructors around the country, information for the general public and a secure website for research discussion, all related to electric vehicles.
