Six High Schools Win the Hydrogen Fuel
Cell Model Car Challenge
Six high school teams won $9,000 at the third annual Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model
Car Challenge, part of the Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl.
Woodrow Wilson High School of Portland, Ore., took first place in the Grand Prix
speed race; and the Harker School of San Jose, Calif., conquered a 20-degree
incline with its hydrogen-powered model car to become the “King of the
Hill”. The two first-place teams each received $1,750 for their schools’
science departments.
Taking second and third place in the speed race were Ward Melville High School
of East Setauket, N.Y., and Skyview High School of Vancouver, Wash.,
respectively. Lexington High School of Lexington, Mass., and State College Area
High School of State College, Penn., won second place and third place, in the
King of the Hill competition. The second and third place teams for each
competition received $1,500 and $1,250, respectively.
“The president’s hydrogen fuel initiative is one of the most exciting and
ambitious scientific endeavors underway,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel
W. Bodman. “The program envisions cars and trucks that run on clean, abundant
hydrogen, rather than gasoline. The students that built and raced model hydrogen
fuel cell cars today may be among the future scientists and engineers helping
make that vision a reality.”
The model cars use a fuel cell to convert hydrogen and oxygen into water via a
chemical reaction, which then generates electricity to power a motor that
propels the car. Since no combustion was involved, the only byproducts are heat
and water.
With model car kit components provided by General Motors, the teams designed and
built the small hydrogen vehicles with technical assistance from engineers of
the Department of Energy. Each model car measured a maximum of one foot wide and
two feet long.
Published 05/05/2005