May 12, 2016  

Mitch Daniels to wave green flag for IndyCar practice on May 17

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University President Mitch Daniels will be the honorary starter for Indianapolis 500 practice on May 17.

Waving the flag on that day is a natural fit because Purdue, Honda Performance Development and IMS are partnering to host the MSTEM3 500 Student Fair that will bring science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to life through motorsports for more than 800 middle and high school students on May 16-17. The Electric Vehicle Grand Prix will be on May 17-18.

"At Purdue, we're doing all we can to help students see the importance of studying math and science to whatever direction their lives will take," said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. "Given our state's interest in things that go fast, we thought connecting STEM education to racing might 'spark' the interest of a few more students along the way."

Daniels, a longtime booster of open-wheel racing, was the first and only elected public official to date to serve as the official starter for the Indianapolis 500.

The National Hot Rod Association, another motorsports partner with Purdue, also will be at the fair, along with representatives from the United States Auto Club, IMS, Verizon IndyCar Series, General Motors Foundation, Conexus, Ivy Tech Community College, Vincennes University, Lincoln College of Technology, Interstate Battery, First Robotics, First Maker Space and others.

The day also signifies the beginning of the evGrand Prix for both the high school and collegiate series. The karting events let students design and compete in their electric karts as part of a class project. Students had to build the power train for their kart, raise funding, do community outreach and take care of travel logistics.

Each race is 50 laps. The high school race includes eight karts, and the collegiate race will have 20. They will be scored on final race placement, design and innovation, community outreach, compliance with the rules package and energy efficiency.

The evGrandPrix grew out of the Indiana Advanced Electric Vehicle Training and Education Consortium that was supported by the Department of Energy, which has developed degree and training programs for the electric-vehicle industry. The High School evGrandPrix received support from the Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow program out of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovations. 

The fair and evGrand Prix are part of M-STEM3 (Motorsports STEM for Manufacturing and Medicine) at Purdue, an education initiative designed to spark students' interest in STEM fields by taking advantage of Purdue's location in the "Racing Capital of the World." 

Writer: Megan Huckaby, 765-496-1325, mhuckaby@purdue.edu 

Sources: Danny White, director of motorsports at Purdue, 317-632-0716, white66@purdue.edu
Mitch Daniels, president@purdue.edu 

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