Wawasee Supermileage Team Talks About Recent Successes
September 13, 2019 at 1:45 a.m.
By Amanda [email protected]
The class has been taught by teacher Allen Coblentz for the last 15 years, but last year’s class was the first time they made it all the way to competition across the pond.
But in order to get there, they had to win several qualifying races in April in Sonoma, Calif.
The competition is sponsored by Shell Eco-marathon Americus and 100 schools from North America and South America, totaling eight countries represented in California, Coblentz said. The teams come from high schools and colleges.
Wawasee competed in the Urban Concept Internal Combustion Engine category with their diesel vehicle and won that, Coblentz said. Then they had to compete in the Drivers World Championship, “and we won that,” Coblentz said.
Three winners were named from that regional event in California, and Wawasee was first place.
Then, Wawasee’s team came together with the winners from the Asian race to compete in Europe the entire first week of July. The first race starts with 180 competitors and then gets down to nine competitors, then the final three. Wawasee finished that in the top three to move on the championship race with 140 teams from around the world. Those are the “best of the best,” Coblentz said. Those 140 racers got narrowed down to the final nine.
Wawasee earned second place in the Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2019 Technical Inspection competition in London. Their vehicle got 917 miles per gallon. The Technical School of Denmark won with a car that averaged 1,010 miles per gallon.
Coblentz said his classes always consist of the top-notch juniors and seniors whose interest and intelligence make the entire class look good.
“I’m not building this car with just my own knowledge,” he said, touting the students’ leadership and responsibility.
Senior Luke Weisser said he’s learned basically every concept of what it takes to build a car in the class. He hopes to attend Purdue University or Trine University next fall to study mechanical engineering.
Senior Logan Hollar plans to study aerospace engineering when he goes to college.
This year’s class is already thinking about how to build its next set of two vehicles. They always build two, Coblentz said, but even if both cars win in a competition, you can only take one to Europe.
Keeping the weight light is always the biggest goal.
The students will be working on the new cars to be ready for competition in April.
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The class has been taught by teacher Allen Coblentz for the last 15 years, but last year’s class was the first time they made it all the way to competition across the pond.
But in order to get there, they had to win several qualifying races in April in Sonoma, Calif.
The competition is sponsored by Shell Eco-marathon Americus and 100 schools from North America and South America, totaling eight countries represented in California, Coblentz said. The teams come from high schools and colleges.
Wawasee competed in the Urban Concept Internal Combustion Engine category with their diesel vehicle and won that, Coblentz said. Then they had to compete in the Drivers World Championship, “and we won that,” Coblentz said.
Three winners were named from that regional event in California, and Wawasee was first place.
Then, Wawasee’s team came together with the winners from the Asian race to compete in Europe the entire first week of July. The first race starts with 180 competitors and then gets down to nine competitors, then the final three. Wawasee finished that in the top three to move on the championship race with 140 teams from around the world. Those are the “best of the best,” Coblentz said. Those 140 racers got narrowed down to the final nine.
Wawasee earned second place in the Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2019 Technical Inspection competition in London. Their vehicle got 917 miles per gallon. The Technical School of Denmark won with a car that averaged 1,010 miles per gallon.
Coblentz said his classes always consist of the top-notch juniors and seniors whose interest and intelligence make the entire class look good.
“I’m not building this car with just my own knowledge,” he said, touting the students’ leadership and responsibility.
Senior Luke Weisser said he’s learned basically every concept of what it takes to build a car in the class. He hopes to attend Purdue University or Trine University next fall to study mechanical engineering.
Senior Logan Hollar plans to study aerospace engineering when he goes to college.
This year’s class is already thinking about how to build its next set of two vehicles. They always build two, Coblentz said, but even if both cars win in a competition, you can only take one to Europe.
Keeping the weight light is always the biggest goal.
The students will be working on the new cars to be ready for competition in April.
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