05-17-2005, 02:45 PM
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Cheesesteak GURU! Wiz with
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Cedar Park
Posts: 13,875
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West Philly High Teens Prestigious Eco-Car Contest
Yep thats right West Philly High School students beat teams from Toyota, Honda, and federally-supported college envronmental design programs and won the Tour de Sol for the best high-performance zero-emmissions custom car design. Who says great engineering candidates don't come from the 'hood?
Quote:
Yesterday, New York Gov. George Pataki honored the team as the best overall entry in the four-day challenge.
"I was beside myself!" said Simon Hauger, a math and science teacher at West Philadelphia High, who heads the Electrical Vehicle Program.
It was the second time a team from the school won the overall prize. It last won in 2002.
Among the 15 hybrid, solar and biofueled cars in this year's competition were vehicles from Toyota and Honda, and entries from major universities, independent auto enthusiasts and high schools from across the country. "What I'm really excited about is that we beat the production cars," Hauger said.
A modified Honda Insight broke the 100-mile-per-gallon barrier, but the West Philly vehicle was the best all-around performer in the five-category competition - acceleration, obstacle course, fuel efficiency, range and low pollution.
"One of our goals is zero oil consumption and zero climate-change emissions," said Tour de Sol organizer Nancy Hazard. "The team from West Philadelphia was the closest to that goal."
The local squad beat Western Washington University - a federally subsidized and nationally recognized auto program - by one gram, Hazard said.
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http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/11664700.htm
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Actually, the West Philly High Auto Academy is pretty well respected. This is such good press. Im working on a program to bring them into the SEMA world...
