2007-08 Annus Mirabilis for the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team
It may not have been 1905 and the team didn’t receive any Nobel Prizes, but it was indeed a “miracle year” for the Experimental Vehicle Team. Entering it’s tenth year, the aspiring group of young engineers took on their biggest project to date.
In April 2007 the team put away the wrenches and picked up pens to write a grant proposal for Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam funding. After making it through the first round of applications and receiving some start-up funding, the building of the “Safer Electric Motorcycle” began. Knowing that the project would take a year to complete, the design and construction sprung into full gear. Working six days a week, the team waited anxiously for the grantees to be announced by MIT in October. The team was already driving a rolling chassis of the motorcycle when it was notified that it was one of 16 high schools across the United States to receive a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant.
With a flashy new MIT credit line, construction of the motorcycle’s carbon fiber/Kevlar/Nomex honeycomb body began. The long nights and messy work did not deter the team of "Junior Edisons" from their goal. As months passed, the electric motorcycle started to take shape; one piece at a time. With a June deadline looming, the students worked though Spring Break and into summer vacation to put the finishing touches on their “green” vehicle.
With the motorcycle complete in June 2008, the team was one of four grantees invited by MIT to present at their annual awards ceremony for inventors. A collective gasp rose from the distinguished audience as the motorcycle was unveiled for the first time. The eight-minute presentation was extremely well received. Later that evening, the Safer Electric Motorcycle was on display at MIT with the number one question being also the most flattering, “When can I buy one?"
~ Moderator Mark Westlake
The photographs above are from the New York Alumni Event - July 1, 2008
The photographs were taken by William Regan
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The photographs above are from the July 19 media event at STA.
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