Illinois Valley Community College’s 15th annual Edible Car Contest will be at noon Wednesday, Feb. 26 in the cafeteria.

The contest, which celebrates National Engineering Week, was originally sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Check-in begins at 10 a.m. with judging at 11:30 and racing at noon.

“Our purpose is to demonstrate that STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, can be creative and fun,” said Computer Aided Design instructor Dorene Data, organizer and coordinator of the event.

IVCC students, faculty, staff and area high schools are invited to compete. New in 2020 is a press category. Participants work in teams to come up with creative and workable designs.

In 2016, the contest received its fourth nomination for a prestigious Bellwether Award, a national award recognizing outstanding and innovative community college projects. In 2012, the contest was one of ten finalists.

“We’re proud to be in our 15th year with the contest—each year it gets better and better,” Data said. “Last year we had 66 entries with 38 cars created by students from five local high schools and two junior highs. We can’t wait to see this year’s designs.”

For information, contact Data at (815) 224-0221, [email protected].