Challenge X Year 1
Outreach Team Update #1
November 30, 2004

Tulsa Challenge X's Outreach...

...To Children

At the University of Tulsa, our outreach is focused on teaching children that engineering is an exciting field of study and that alternative energies are viable options for transportation in the future. Currently the students on the TU Challenge X Team are making their rounds at the public schools.

On November 3, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM, students Christina Bishop and Ryan Guldan and advisor Dr. Christi Patton Luks visited the 24 students in Mrs. Berkinshaw's fourth grade class at Jenks Southeast Elementary. Due to the enthusiastic response from students, the Team (students Christina Bishop, Dorian Marx and advisor Dr. Christi Patton Luks) was invited to visit Mrs. Gooding's 23 fourth grade students at Jenks Southeast Elementary from 1:00 to 2:00 PM on November 22. More visits at this and other elementary and high schools are scheduled. The thank you letters indicate that the students are enthusiastically getting the message that the Team has tried to deliver.

Jenks Southeast 4th grade students with fuel cell car kit

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Also, the Team has taken advantage of special activities held at the University of Tulsa such as Brownie Day on October 23 (10:00 AM - 2:00 PM) and TU Girl's Engineering and Science Retreat on November 13 (1:00 - 2:30 PM). At Brownie Day, the Challenge X Team spent 20 minutes talking to 120 second and third grade Girl Scouts about alternative fuels and distributed puzzles and activities provided by GM. At the Engineering and Science Retreat, Challenge X students Chris Flory, Christina Bishop and advisor Dr. Christi Patton Luks spoke to a group of high school girls interested in studying engineering and told them about the new areas of research in the automotive industry with alternative fuels.

TU Girls Engineering and Science Retreat students

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At many of these activities, TU Challenge X uses a fuel cell car kit to demonstrate the use of alternative fuels. The Team has drafted a grant proposal for more of these kits. This will allow the Team to take several cars to high schools so the students can perform a variety of hands-on activities.

...To The Media

The TU Challenge X Team has also been working on public relations within the community. On Tuesday, May 11, the Team hosted a kickoff party inviting administration and local media. They displayed some of the cars from previous automotive design competitions and borrowed an Equinox from a local Chevrolet dealer to examine more closely. A piece was aired on the evening news of the Tulsa CBS affiliate, KOTV, Channel 6, which introduced the Team members, the scope of the Challenge X compeition, and the milestones that we face before getting the Equinox. Also, The University of Tulsa's University Relations Department published an online article on May 12 announcing the involvement of TU in the Challenge X Project and discussing our tentative architectural design.

Over the summer two alumni newsletters, In TUChE (for University of Tulsa Chemical Engineering alumni) and TU Vision (to all College of Engineering and Natural Science graduates and friends), also featured articles about this project.

...To The Public

Dr. Robert Strattan, one of the Challenge X advisors, was an invited speaker at a luncheon for the School of Continuing Education sponsored by the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church. His presentation on November 10 to about 150 adults covered hybrid-electric vehicles and the Challenge X project. An article about this presentation was published in the church newspaper which was distributed to the 8000 members of the church.

...To Professional Societies and Groups

Dr. Strattan presented a talk on "The Evolution of the Hybrid-Electric Automobile" to the Tulsa Chapter of the American Welding Society on September 28. Dr. Strattan also had an article "The electrifying future of the hybrid automobile" published in the August/September 2004 issue of IEEE Potentials, a magazine that goes to over 45,000 IEEE student members, and an article "The Hybrid Advantage" published in the Fall 2003 issue of the Northeast Sun, the magazine of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association. NESEA is the sponsoring agency of the annual Tour de Sol, The Great American Green Transportation Festival and Competition.

...On the Web

During this reporting period, we have established a Tulsa Challenge X Team website. The content on this page continues to evolve. It currently contains links to the main Challenge X website, to those of many of the sponsors, and to the TU Hurricane Motor Works website. It also provides opportunities to contact the Team for more information.