Jun 2000
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Cars Built by SLHS Students Take Top HonoursBy David BrisonSharbot Lake High School sent teams to two Queens University sponsored contests on May 27th and they took many of the top prizes. Two solar operated miniature cars, built by students in Dave Gervais's Environmental Science course, were entered in the Queens Solar Contest 2000, organized by Russ Fleming of the Queens Engineering department. Another car, powered by a 12-volt battery, built by a group of students in Mike Mol's Transportation Technology course, competed in The Queens University Great Electric Car Race, organized through the Queens Faculty of Education.
The two SLHS entries in Solar 2000 were The Copper Cutie and The Beast.
The Beast won 1st place for operating in the least amount of light, and
the Copper Cutie was the fastest car in the contest. Teams from 11
schools across the province competed.
Matt Vallentini, Amanda Henderson, and Kerri Bertrim built The Beast.
Matt was the driving force behind the design and construction of the
miniature car. Amanda and Kerri raced The Beast in the Queens contest.
The Copper Cutie was built by the team of Jeremy Shorts, Dustin Riley,
and Donnie Wilson. "There were still major problems with The Cutie on
the day before the contest", said Jeremy, "but we were able to rebuild
it the night before we went down to Queens, and it preformed well when
it needed to."
The miniature solar powered cars were built from VCR parts donated by The Depot in Kingston.
"The Cutie and The Beast were the only cars chosen to tour across
Canada with the Queens University award winning solar operated car--
and that is quite an honour." said Gervais.
The SLHS entry in The Electric Car Race, Panther I, was a 3-wheeled,
rear drive, tubular fibreglass chassis vehicle. It is powered by a
12-volt marine battery, and has a permanent magnet high-speed motor
with a belt and chain drive. The team that built it consisted of Dan
Mallett, Tyler Hannah, Billy Young, Jarrett Ritchie, Ian MacMunn,
Brandon Ritchie, and Justin Jackson.
Dan Mallett drove the vehicle in the race. "We all worked very hard
building the car. We came in on our spares, after school, and during
our lunch hours - at the end we even took time off from other classes
to work on it. We learned a lot about the use of machine equipment and
other tools. It is something that you can really get excited about and
take pride in", said Mallett.
In the four race categories; Panther I got a 2nd in Design and
Technology, 3rd in Technical Presentation, 1st (3 way tie) in Safety
and Handling, and 9th in the race -- for an overall 3rd place amongst
the 13 teams in the contest.
The race was a contest to see how far the cars could go in a 2-hour
period. "In the first part of the race, I ran over a piece of pipe that
was sticking up from the gravel." said Mallett. "That bent the right
front wheel and I had to take it easy from that time on. I think we
would have done much better if that hadn't happened". 
When I visited the school on Monday after the race, the students were
busy rebuilding the car for another race on June 3rd, The EVCO
Electrician, at the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa. For that race they
will need a bigger motor and they are also rebuilding both front axles.
Tyler Hannah was at the lathe making the new axles. Billy Young and
Jarrett Ritchie had the car upside down and were busy getting it ready.
In the past several weeks, SLHS students have demonstrated that they
can achieve a high level of excellence in diverse areas, such as the
solar and battery operated cars, their outstanding contributions to
Anne of Green Gables, a Geographical Information System (GIS) project,
and ingenious video/animation projects (more about those in future
issues). Their teachers are devoting countless hours to
extra-curricular activities, without being required to do it by the
board.
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