The summer of 2024 was an award-filled year! We secured 2nd place overall in the Cruiser (4-seater) division, as well as several engineering and documentation awards. WE NEED YOUR HELP!

 

Our students build these cars from the ground up (we plan, design, cut, weld, wire, test, and pour our hearts, blood, and tears into these cars!). This year we hope to bring two cars (our Cruiser) as well as our single-seat Sport.

 

Palm Beach County 4-H Association TechGarage is a student-driven engineering club specializing in creating advanced experimental vehicles and racing them in the Solar Car Challenge as well as building karts for the Electrathon America Racing venues. Through hands-on experience and collaboration via the TechGarage, students learn various soft and hard skills that enhance their engineering and collaboration skills. Palm Beach County 4-H Association TechGarage aims to spread alternative energy to a broader audience while delivering life-changing education to its members.

 

The Solar Car Challenge is the top project-based STEM initiative that helps motivate students in STEM. Launched in 1993, this program teaches high school students how to build and safely race road-worthy solar cars. The two-year education cycle has students participate in a closed-track event at the world-famous Texas Motor Speedway in year 1 to ensure roadworthiness, followed by a cross-country race designed to give students an opportunity to display and drive their solar cars. We participated in the 2024 Solar Car Challenge, and intend to do so again in 2025 in the Cruiser and Classic division.

 

The TechGarage is located in the FAU Tech Runway, a warehouse hosting several ambitious start-ups, companies, and summer camps. Advanced experimental vehicles reside in the northernmost corner of the Tech Runway, alongside Go-Karts and the Solar Cruiser. The TechGarage stands as the center of Advanced Experimental Vehicles' operations, equipped with an impressive array of tools, machinery, and sophisticated software. With supervision, students are encouraged to innovate and bring projects to reality within the cutting-edge TechGarage.

When asked what the students are most proud of, the answers are surprising. Are they proud of building the car, racing, winning, and forming the bonds that they have formed? Yes. But one of the memories that stands out the most may surprise you, and we'd love to share it here:

"We arrived at the race and in the spirit of the Solar Car Challenge, which is cooperation before competition, we set out to meet the other teams and see if we could be of any help. One of the other teams in our division, Liberty Hill, expressed concern that they might not have enough people to safely keep their car at max capacity due to the heat, so we offered to lend them some of our team members to sit in their car. We had 5 people register to ride in their car and take time away from our car and our team to help them pass their registration and later keep their car filled and their team members safe from the heat. We learned that we should not take things for granted, such as the size of our team or the supporters we had; it helped us gain new perspectives and compounded the importance of sportsmanship."

Please visit our website @ https://4htechgarage.com/. There is a lot of information there, and more is being added daily!

Want to see the massive archive of photos of these amazing students?
Take a look here: ALSET Solar CyberSedan