They didn't win the grand prize, but the Dash Tech team members from Henry Ford Academy (HFA) finished among the top three in the DASH+ student contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the X Foundation.
The national contest drew dozens of entries from schools across the country. The challenge for the high school students was to design a dashboard that gives feedback to encourage fuel-efficient driving. The team from HFA used creativity – and math and science skills – to create a 3D avatar that communicates the impact of driver behavior on fuel economy and the environment.
The winner of the DASH+ contest was EDV Technologies from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California.
That team's dashboard design continuously calculates maximum fuel economy and alerts the driver of environmental impact.
More than 10,000 online votes from all 50 states were combined with scores from an independent panel of experts to decide the winning team.
The team members from Dos Pueblos High School will travel to Detroit later this year to pitch their idea to automotive industry representatives.
In recognition of their accomplishments and to help further their education goals, all three final teams – Dos Pueblos, HFA and The Harker School in San Jose, California - will equally share a $10,000 prize.
Congratulations to each of the teams for a job well done!
