Automotive X Prize DASH+ student dashboard contest

The Automotive X Prize competition is underway with the recently announced list of 43 teams advancing to the next stage in the race to build a 100-mpg car. The program has sparked interest from companies around the world, but for the next generation of innovators and engineers out there, the X Prize, in connection with the U.S. Department of Energy has another contest. The DASH+ competition is a challenge for national high school student teams use science, math, technology and engineering to design a vehicle dashboard for the future. The best dashboard design should incorporate feedback mechanisms and supports behavior change to help drivers maximize fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

To enter, the first step is to gather a team of between two and five students together aged 14 years or older and one adult mentor over 21. The team will then come up with a design of gauges, dials, and other audio and visual sensors that would help the driver participate in saving energy.

The next step is to come up with a technical plan as to how the design will display the data on fuel economy and environmental impact that would help encourage more efficient driving behavior.

And finally, the pitch should be made on video to encourage automakers and drivers to adopt your ideas to help people become more aware of energy use in vehicles.

Registration is open from now until February 1, 2010. All submissions are due March 1, 2010. Three semifinalists will be announced in May 2010 and voting will be open to the public. The grand-prize winner will be announced in June 2010 and the winning team will travel to Detroit in July to present their dashboard idea to representatives from the automotive industry. In Detroit they will have also the opportunity to check out the competing Automotive X Prize vehicles. This contest should inspire students to apply arts and sciences in creative ways, and hopefully inspire the next-generation automotive designers and engineers.

For more information on the contest see the Fuel our Future Now site.  Learn more about the Automotive X Prize competition. And find out more about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section. 

—Liza Barth