Bay Area students build and race electric cars using STEM skills: ‘Getting practical experience’

Electrathon car races

FOX 13's Barry Wong takes you to the racetrack where a handful of Bay Area students are learning about science and engineering by working on electric cars.

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - A handful of high schools in the Tampa Bay Area use the thrill of racing, called Electrathon, to teach STEM skills (science, technology, engineering, and math).

"It's electric car racing by high school students and those adults that wish to do it with home-built electric cars," Mulberry High School engineering teacher Todd Thuma explained.

Local perspective:

Students build and maintain an electric car and race once or twice a month each school year. Each race is an hour-long, with the goal of completing as many laps as possible on two lead-acid batteries.

"You don't have enough to go all out. You have just enough to maintain a level that you can keep speed throughout the course," Thuma said.

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Mulberry High School senior Angel Diaz says the beginning of each race is the most stressful part. He recently joined the team but has always been a fan from afar.

"We're mainly working electrical, we're learning automotive skills," Diaz said. "Depending on which career field someone goes into, they can apply these skills to that job. Getting hands-on experience, getting your hands dirty into it, and just getting practical experience in high school going into college, or into your career."

Big picture view:

At Mulberry, the Electrathon team includes students from engineering and automotive programs. Thuma thinks participation equals a massive resume booster for his kids’ futures.

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"You know, when I teach basics like electricity, there's no connection to the real world, but now with a 24-volt car, they can make that connection to what I've been teaching them in the classroom. Think of self-driving cars. That's a robotic car. Think of alternative-energy cars, that's engineering and automotive," Thuma said. "Our main goal is to give them hands-on experience."

For more information on Electrathon, click here.

The Source: FOX 13's Barry Wong collected the information in this story.

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