Engineering Students Launch Campaign To Help Them Build Alt Fuel Vehicle‏

PHOTO: Members of MC3 Engineering INNOVA discuss design modifications to their urban concept vehicle. Students are raising money via Go Fund Me to purchase materials to complete their vehicle and to compete in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2016 in Detroit, Mich. this spring. Photo by Sandi Yanisko

Blue Bell, Pa.—A team of 11 Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) engineering students are designing and building a hydrogen cell-powered urban concept vehicle that will allow them to compete in the “Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2016” in Detroit, Mich. this spring.

The team—MC3 Engineering INNOVA—has launched a campaign on Go Fund Me to help raise the money needed to complete the vehicle. The goal is to raise $15,000, which will be used to help purchase materials and to pay for student travel expenses to Detroit. The campaign is coordinated with MCCC’s Foundation and First Giving, making all donations tax deductible. Visit the Go Fund Me campaign online at http://www.gofundme.com/projectinnova.

The campaign builds on the $10,000 in grant funding the team has secured to date, which has allowed them to begin vehicle design. The entire project is led by students under the guidance of Associate Professor William Brownlowe.

“The designing and building of INNOVA gives our students an incredible, hands-on opportunity to engage in real-world research & development not often found at a community college,” explained Brownlowe. “The vehicle will also serve as a valuable teaching tool for future students who will be charged with modifying and improving it as an integrated part of our engineering curriculum.”

With the projected depletion of oil and natural gas resources over the next 50 years, it’s critical that engineering students become familiar with alternative fuel options today.

“Engineering students have to train for the technology they’ll be using 15 years from now, not the technology that’s available today. Alternative fuel vehicles are the future,” said Brownlowe.

INNOVA is an urban concept vehicle designed for inner city use, which means it will travel a maximum speed of 25 MPH. A small hydrogen fuel cell engine powers two small motors on the vehicle’s back tires. To compete in the Shell Eco-marathon, the vehicle must be road legal, with working headlights, windshield wipers and turn signals. When completed, Brownlowe expects INNOVA to weigh around 400 pounds. The maximum weight to compete is 500.

To learn more and to help support MC3 Engineering INNOVA, visit http://www.gofundme.com/projectinnova or http://www.mc3.edu/innova.

UPCOMING HOLIDAY PERFORMANCES IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY

BACH & HANDLE CHORALE presents:

 

December 12, 2015 | 3:00 pm @ St. John’s Lutheran Church
Christmas Concert – St. John’s Lutheran Church

December 13, 2015| 3:00 pm @ St. Paul’s United Church of Christ
Christmas Concert – St. Paul’s United Church of Christ

---

YOUNG PEOPLE’S PHILHARMONIC presents:

December 20, 2015 | 4:00 pm @ Miller Symphony Hall
The Young People’s Philharmonic and Junior String Philharmonic Holiday Concert

 

PURCHASE TICKETS AT OUR BOX OFFICE TODAY!

NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATION FOR YOUNG AT ART

On Saturday, March 12, 2016, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council will present Young at Art, an expo of arts camps and schools, to assist parents with selecting the appropriate summer class for their child. This inaugural event will be held at Penn State Lehigh Valley, from 9:00am to 2:30pm, and feature thirty exhibitors who offer lessons in the performing, literary, media and visual arts. Free admission to the expo is provided to the public.

Families with children (ages four to eighteen years old) will enjoy meeting the various exhibitors and learning about the artistic opportunities for their aspiring creatives. The day’s festivities will showcase an arts demonstration, performance or activity every 25-minutes so children will have a chance “to try on what kind of artist” they want to be this summer.

“The idea for a children’s arts expo came from a parent of two small children who was having difficulty identifying a summer program for both her kids,” says Executive Director Randall Forte. “Bringing people together to engage with the arts is what the Arts Council does.”

A limited number of spaces are available for arts and cultural organizations to exhibit and promote their programs, and registration will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. There will also be opportunities for exhibitors to select a 25-minute time slot to showcase a demonstration or activity.

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION: January 20, 2016
Early Registration: December 15, 2015 (Members only)

Click here for more information on registering!

Lehigh Valley Arts Council Appoints New PPA Program Administrator‏

LEHIGH VALLEY, PA – As of November 1, Lehigh Valley Arts Council appointed South Bethlehem native, Carlos M. Barata, as the new Pennsylvania Partners in Arts (PPA) Program Administrator. Barata will follow in the footsteps of Marilyn Roberts, a Lehigh Valley native who has served the region’s arts communities for over twenty years, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council for three. Barata joins a small, but dedicated team tasked with promoting arts awareness, advocating its value, and facilitating communication and cooperation among artists, arts organizations, and the community at large. “I am delighted that Carlos has joined the team at the Lehigh Valley Arts Council,” says Executive Director, Randall Forte. “His background in marketing and communications, as well as being bi-lingual and a musician, will enable the Arts Council to further expand the PPA Program into our diverse community.” Barata is a graduate of Bethlehem Catholic High School, and Lafayette College, where he studied Music, Anthropology/Sociology, and Gender Studies. In addition to his role as an independent singer-songwriter and performer, his hands-on training and experience in music administration, communications, and event planning has afforded him positions throughout the Lehigh Valley with various organizations including Organizing for Action, ArtsQuest, Miller-Keystone Blood Center, and Klunk & Millan Advertising. Barata will assist in coordinating the PPA Program, a state funding initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) designed to widen the circle of funding opportunities in support of arts activities throughout 67 counties. The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is entering its 11th year as the PCA’s regional partner of the PPA by re-granting state funds to applicants in Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties through two streams of funding opportunities, Project Stream and Program Stream, which both expand community access and encourage local decision-making. The grant application and award process is administered by the Arts Council staff, who convene advisory panels from the cultural community to review the proposals. Panelists, selected to review applications according to guidelines provided by the PCA, provide the essential expertise, integrity, and commitment to the arts in the community.

***

About the Lehigh Valley Arts Council The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is the region’s central voice for the arts, promoting arts awareness and advocating its value while strengthening access to the arts for all citizens in our community. The Arts Council’s mission is to promote the arts; to encourage and support artists and their development; to assist arts organizations; and to facilitate communication and cooperation among artists, arts organizations, and the community. Services include arts research and advocacy, professional development seminars, publications, and cooperative regional marketing initiatives.

***

Lehigh Valley Arts Council 840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201 Allentown, PA 18101 610-437-5915 / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org www.LVArtsCouncil.org / www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org