High School EV Challenge With PG&E Crosses the Finish Line!

An engaging STEM internship program concluded on August 5 when teams raced electric go-karts at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Electric Safety Academy in Livermore, CA.

The EV Challenge design-build-race activities were integrated into a comprehensive summer internship program. The program kicked off at the new PG&E headquarters in Oakland, CA, with orientation week at the end of June. Students learned the basics of power generation and distribution, met with engineers representing a spectrum of emerging technologies, and learned about PG&E University Programs that can help them successfully earned degrees and land a career in this exciting industry.

Orientation week also included OSHA-10, First Aid, and CPR certification and hands-on work with NEED’s Science of Energy kit. Students alternated between internship days and go-kart build days.  Internship day had students working side by side with mentors in the Electric Engineering group where they learned about the industry and completed tasks essential to their department’s operations.

On go-kart days, students came to the Emeryville Transformer Repair Facility where generous space was made available for each team to work in small groups under the supervision of NEED facilitators and mentors to design, engineer, and build their go karts. This location originally housed the PG&E Engineering Department Laboratory; the complex marked its 100th birthday last year and many of the fixtures and some of the tools date to those early days. Larry Parks, Supervisor of Dielectric & Insulation testing, provided us with a tour of each department and the rich history of this group of facilities.

The Emeryville facility was an ideal place for this project. Students were provided a tour where they met highly skilled work workers, machinists, and CNC operators. When a team needed a certain fastener for their kart of wanted to cut a piece of wood, the help they needed was just steps away from their work area.

Much more than a simple assembly project, the project required students to make design decisions by applying mechanical, electrical, and ergonomic principles. Their karts use a 48-volt electric drive system powered by four 12-volt batteries wired in series. Disc brakes are provided but students are required to determine where to mount the batteries, brake components, and other essential components.

An additional challenge for teams was to utilize a 12-volt solar panel, charge controller, and battery to power accessories of their choosing.  Students decided to power USB ports and an amber emergency beacon with their solar-powered accessory system.

On Friday, August 1, teams competed final testing of their karts before helping to load them on a truck for delivery to the Livermore Electric Safety Academy where employees take courses and complete tests to become qualified for a wide variety of positions from lineman to substation operations. The Academy has a large, paved area that was an ideal location for conducting a safe kart race. Special thanks are due Shaheen Rasheed, Senior Learning Strategist, and Eric Stansfield, Academy Forman, for allowing the race to be held here and for their hours of support leading up to the race and during the race.

On Monday, August 4, students arrived at the race site to assist in unloading the carts and setting up each team’s pit area with shelving and worktables and they proceeded to fine tune and later test their karts. The racecourse was prepared following a site plan that maximized the use of the paved area and included safety features like straw bales placed around curves and metal barriers separating spectators from the racetrack and pit areas.

The next day, students and the NEED team arrived early and worked with volunteers to welcome and guide attendees which included parents, mentors, company leadership and volunteers from throughout the company. More than a dozen PG&E employees were present to help manage the event. The three competing kart teams prepared posters and presented to a team of judges led by PG&E Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Engineering, Shay Bahramirad, who is credited for bringing this exciting internship and the EV Challenge to the PG&E service area. Posters and team presentations were scored on their demonstration of engineering innovation, ability to overcome challenges, and describing how they gained skills and knowledge because of their internship. The three teams, named “Los Rapidos”, “NEED 4 Speed”, and “Nonchalant Dreadheads” individual track runs as a matter of safety. Several heats determined which kart was most energy efficient and which kart and driver had top speed.  Awards for first, second, and third place were also provided for Teamwork and, of course, the overall challenge.  Judges selected the “NEED 4 Speed” team as the overall winner of the day.

Throughout this experience, students learned when and how to use PPE (personal protective equipment), the safe use of various hand and power tools, basic low-voltage wiring, and how to work together to solve problems, not only within their teams but also by sharing suggestions with other teams. Team members learned how engineers analyze problems, build and test solutions, and care for their tools, learning to count and clean their tools at the end of each work day.

This first-ever PG&E EV Electric Engineering and EV was remarkable in the way mentors and volunteers diverse divisions and facilities operated by PG&E came together to maximize the interns’ experience.  Thanks to Shaun Rohmiller and Larry Park at the Emeryville facility for providing space to design and build the karts, and to Shaheen Rasheed and Eric Stansfield for allowing the race to take place at their Livermore Electric Safety Academy and to interns’ mentors and so many volunteers who made this an amazing experience.

The NEED team included Rob Griegoliet, Tyler Cvitkovik, Britni Arrington, Karely Carlos, and Greg Holman and his daughter Abigail, and California State Director Barry Scott.  Karely and Britni worked with Barry to oversee students’ work engineering, building, and testing the karts.

Blog written by NEED CA State Director, Barry Scott
View more photos captured here!