The Noosa Electric Vehicle Expo this Sunday will showcase the important role that young people are playing in developing cutting edge sustainable transport design and innovation. “Noosa is really fortunate to be hosting not one but three great examples where young people are leading the way,” said Expo Coordinator Vivien Griffin.
“We have Team Arrow and QUT Motorsports from Brisbane, and home-grown innovation from Matthew Flinders Anglican College students,” she said. “I am hoping that their examples will inspire STEM students from our high schools to think about their future direction.”
Team Arrow Racing Association are a Brisbane-based team who design and build a solar-racing vehicle to compete in the gruelling 3000 kilometre Bridgestone World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide. They first entered the World Solar Challenge in 2013 with their single-seat solar car Arrow1 and since then have competed in both the 2015 and 2017 races. 2015 saw Arrow1 place eighth, the highest placing Australian team.
Competitors in the challenge face a range of complex issues, such as finding a way to deliver optimal efficiency from the vehicle and complex power-electronics systems, all while dealing with the harsh Australian outback conditions. The team has also competed internationally, including the 2015 Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge, where they were placed fifth.
QUT Motorsport is a student-run motorsport team that designs, engineers, builds and markets a single seat electric race car for the Formula SAE-A competition. It incorporates students from a range of disciplines such as engineering, software, business, IT and many more.
QUT Motorsport paves the way for future careers in industry. Its members get a chance to apply and develop the skills they have acquired at university in a real-world project. The team is a dedicated group of people who are passionate and committed to producing the best, most innovative solutions and refining their expertise through the design and fabrication of a Formula SAE car.
At the other end of the spectrum, Matthew Flinders Anglican College students have embarked on a project to convert an aged diesel 4WD vehicle to electric. (See separate article.) The Flinders project is the first of its kind in Australia, with students aiming to play their part in planning for environmentally sustainable transport options in the future.
Flinders Secondary Design and Technologies teacher, Mr Mike King said there was a real buzz during the car conversion lessons. “Students are keen to work to a high standard and learn about vehicle restoration processes.”
Electric vehicles have emerged and proved themselves as one of the best options to transition the world to a sustainable transport future. However, electric vehicles are still unaffordable for many people and uptake of electric vehicles in Australia has been very low compared to other countries around the world.
The students at Flinders want to help provide solutions to this problem.
The free Noosa Electric Vehicle Expo will be happening on Sunday 21 March from 10am to 2pm at the Noosa Transit Centre car park, Lanyana Way, Noosa Junction. Further information at noosaevexpo.com.au.
