It wasn’t a record-breaking race for the Edible Car Contest recently at Illinois Valley Community College, but students from Hall High School dominated the speed competition for the second year in a row.

Teams of Hall calculus students won first and third in the speed competition in the eighth annual contest, which IVCC hosts in celebration of National Engineering Week.

This year’s fastest vehicle was designed and built by Olivia Brandner, Jacquelyn Petzel, Alex Olivares and Sam Rizzo, under the team name The Uncle Worms.  The Third Place car was built by the Going Cakeless team of Joe Parochetti, Rebekah Dagraedt, and Abney Bernardini.  Math teacher Jill Bruner advised the students.

Last year, Hall students swept the speed category, but this year, a pair of IVCC students, Kevin Smith and Logan Koepke, took second place racing under the name Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies.

An IVCC, student team named Smokin’ Hot Babes, which finished in the middle of the pack for speed, was the overall winner, taking a First Place in three categories:  design, detail and prospective engineers.  The team is comprised of Marsha Weidert, Katherine Duda and Amber Wade.

A Putnam County High School team was second overall, winning a first in creativity and first in the high school category. That team, “Cannoli Buggy,” included Loralee Wilson, Maddi Loiselle, and Katie Alleman and was advised by biology teacher Andrea Skinner

“Our purpose is to demonstrate that STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, can be creative and fun,” said contest organizer Dorene Peres, program coordinator of Computer-Aided Design at IVCC.  And according to participants, the contest succeeded.

“Eating the leftovers” emerged as a real plus for some participants.

And the challenges, similar to past years, were “figuring out the axles” and “keeping it from breaking.”

Many of the participants said they really enjoyed the teamwork involved and seeing the vehicle work. And a plus, according to one participant, was:  “Even though our car got into an accident, the passengers are okay.”

While the speed contest continues to be the highlight of the event, the 58 participants on 18 teams competed for prizes in eight other categories.  One vehicle, produced by the Veggie Wheels, wasn’t able to slide down the track, even with a little help.  But it won a first in nutrition and second in design and in detail.  That vehicle, one of the top overall winners, was designed by IVCC’s Billie Scamen, Cassie Platt and Jeni Shute.

The cars may have been low tech, but the timing for the speed competition was definitely high tech. Under the guidance of Jim Gibson, electronics program coordinator, electronics students designed, programmed and built a programmable logic controller (PLC) to time the speed on the track.

The control was connected to a computer running Rockwell automated software and it utilized a reflective photo eye at the start and finish.

In addition to recording the time, the software also translated the time into “mouthfuls per hour.”

To highlight Engineering Week, as spectators and participants were gathering for the speed competition, they competed for prizes by completing a quiz on engineering career information. Correct answers were announced during the awards ceremony.

The quiz question that generated the most incorrect answers was about the percentage of people in engineering careers who are women, Perez said.

“Women make up less than 20 percent of the engineering workforce,” she said, explaining that most people believe there is a much higher percentage.

“That’s one reason why there is a big push nationally to increase the exposure of young women to STEM.”

The contest was sponsored by the Division of Career and Technical Programs and the Making Industry Meaningful In College (MIMIC) project. The contest originated in 2006 with support from a National Science Foundation grant.

Judges were IVCC educational technologists Mary Smith and Dawn Lockwood and engineering technology student Kevin Staton. The Student Government Association provided pizza.

Organizers were Perez, Gibson and communications instructor Rose Marie Lynch.

In 2012, IVCC’s Edible Car Contest was one of ten finalists for a prestigious Bellwether Award, a national award which recognizes outstanding and innovative community college projects.  It was IVCC’s second nomination for the contest.

Organizers have written a “how to” handbook and given workshops at a number of national conferences to encourage and assist teachers to organize contests as a fun way to provide hands-on experience for classroom content with students of all ages.

Information and a copy of the handbook are available at www.ivcc.edu/nst.

IVCC Edible Car Contest Winners –  2013

Feb. 20, 2013

18 teams total

7 high school teams from 2 schools (Putnam County and Hall)

4 IVCC student teams (entered as Prospective Engineers)

5 IVCC student teams (MIMIC teams)

1 IVCC student team in Nutrition

1 IVCC Student Organization (Project Success)

58 student participants

 RESULTS SUMMARY

• IVCC student team named Smokin’ Hot Babes was overall winner taking a First Place in three categories:  Design, Detail and Prospective Engineers.  Team members:  Marsha Weidert, Katherine Duda, Amber Wade
• Hall H.S. teams nearly dominated speed competition for second year in row, taking First and Third in speed (last year Hall took all three speed prizes).
• A team from Putnam County H.S. took two First Place prizes:  Creativity and the High School category.

WINNERS

SPEED

FIRST PLACE:    – time .60   (record set in 2012 at .42 by a Hall H.S. team)

The Uncle Worms (Hall H.S.):  Olivia Brandner, Jacquelyn Petzel, Alex Olivares, Sam Rizzo

SECOND PLACE:   time. 61 — Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies:  Kevin Smith and Logan Koepke

THIRD PLACE:  – time .64 — Going Cakeless (Hall H.S.):  Joe Parochetti, Rebekah Dagraedt, Abney Bernardini

 DESIGN

FIRST PLACE: Smokin’ Hot Babes:  Marsha Weidert, Katherine Duda, Amber Wade

SECOND PLACE: Veggie Wheels:  Billie Scamen, Cassie Platt, Jeni Shute

THIRD PLACE: Rice Cake Rollers:  Billie Ann Goluba, Bill Goluba, Curtis Martin, Richard McLaughlin

 CREATIVITY

FIRST PLACE: Cannoli Buggy (Putnam County H.S.):  Loralee Wilson, Maddi Loiselle, Katie Alleman

SECOND PLACE: (No team name): Richard McLaughlin, Andea Fowger, Bill Coluba

THIRD PLACE: Team Ramrod (Putnam County High School):  Megan Hewitt, Scott Urnikis, Max Boggio, Kylan Kostellic

 DETAIL

FIRST PLACE: Smokin’ Hot Babes:  Marsha Weidert, Katherine Duda, Amber Wade

SECOND PLACE:    Veggie Wheels:  Billie Scamen, Cassie Platt, Jeni Shute

THIRD PLACE: Team Khaos (Putnam County High School):  Mario Flores, Clay Keen, Christian Carbri

 PROSPECTIVE ENGINEERS

FIRST PLACE: Smokin’ Hot Babes:  Marsha Weidert, Katherine Duda, Amber Wade

SECOND PLACE: (No team name): Richard McLaughlin, Andea Fowger, Bill Coluba

 MIMIC (Making Industry Meaningful In College Project)

FIRST PLACE: Rice Cake Rollers:  Billie Ann Goluba, Bill Goluba, Curtis Martin, Richard McLaughlin

SECOND PLACE: Le Voiture:  Rob Wilson, Cassie Deacon, Shawna Wilcox

THIRD PLACE: “A” Row:  David Serpico, Steve Selders, Zack Rice, Michelle Serpico

 STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

FIRST PLACE: Project Success ATP:  Yvette Lucus, Shavnessy Gatch, Michelle Harrell, Joslin Picatto, Rosalba Seller

NUTRITION:

FIRST PLACE:Veggie Wheels:  Billie Scamen, Cassie Platt, Jeni Shute

 HIGH SCHOOL

FIRST PLACE: Cannoli Buggy (Putnam County H.S.):  Loralee Wilson, Maddi Loiselle, Katie Alleman

SECOND PLACE: Watch Where You’re Christopher Walken  (Hall H.S.):  Katie Hoffert, Robbie Lentz, Drew Lechne

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THIRD PLACE: The Uncle Worms (Hall H.S.):  Olivia Brandner, Jacquelyn Petzel, Alex Olivares, Sam Rizzo

FOURTH PLACE: Going Cakeless (Hall H.S.):  Joe Parochetti, Rebekah Dagraedt, Abney Bernardini

 PIT CREW WARDROBE AWARD:

Flaming Rubber Duckies:  Kevin Smith, Logan Koepke

 SPECIAL PARTICIPATION AWARD:

Team Ryan ( Putnam County H.S.):  Nick Bruch, Ryan Friel, Abby Zens

ENGINEERING QUIZ WINNERS  (All participants and spectators eligible –  selected from perfect scores in two categories):

Students enrolled in an engineering, electronics, drafting, CAD course or program:  Rob Wilson

Students not enrolled in an engineering technology related program:  Dylan Kostellic  (Putnam County H.S.)

CONTEST SURVEY WINNER (Door prize for contest participants):  Maddie Loiselle (Putnam County H.S.)