Lincoln High School’s engineering and physics students got to show off their work on the track at the F24 Greenpower electric vehicle STEM race at the Ninigret Park Criterium Track in Charlestown, RI on May 18. 

Hosted by the Rhode Island Computer Museum (RICM), students tested the electric cars they built and designed themselves over the semester. They raced on a one-mile track against other middle and high school students across the state. 

Lincoln brought two cars, one by the physics class and the other from Mr. Gervais’s engineering class. 

“The event went well,” physics student Ruhan Chandra-Mohan said. “In the first round we did really well. Keagen [Valente] was driving for us, and he got third. Then we beat Mr. Gervais’ team the first time around, and then the second time around we got fourth, so we did good compared to other schools.” 

The day consisted of hands-on learning, and two exciting race heats where student-built cars were tested for endurance and energy efficiency. 

“It went well,” engineering teacher Bob Gervais said. “We were able to get some information about our car and compare it to what other schools have done.”

In designing their cars, the students put in a lot of work over the semester. They had to determine how they could make their cars more efficient for speed. After hours of research, the students finally decided to focus on the aerodynamics of the car. They studied how air flows around and through a vehicle to slice through the air smoothly to improve fuel efficiency and speed, all while managing wind to keep the car stable and glued to the road at high speeds.