Western North Carolina Gravity Games Soapbox Races Showcase Engineering, Science

Donning jackets, hoodies and gloves, more than 200 hundred spectators lined Church Street in downtown Lenoir, N.C., to support competitors in the first-ever Western North Carolina Gravity Games Soapbox Races on Saturday, Nov. 19. Google and Appalachian State University (ASU) co-hosted the event.

The event was a success! So much so that we're gearing up to do it again in April 2012.

Thirty-four teams - nine high school, 23 middle school, and two in the open division for university or corporate entries - from Alleghany, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and Watauga counties competed to be the fastest car on the hill, all vying to win prizes including Android IdeaPads, trophies, medals and other goodies from both Google and ASU.

Soapbox cars are motorless vehicles capable of racing downhill, using just gravity and potential mechanical energy as the only propulsion mechanisms.

The Church Street race track was 650-feet long and some cars topped speeds at 30 miles per hour. The average speed was 17 miles per hour.

Each car competed in two event categories within its division: Speed and Creativity. With a time of 26.213 seconds, Hudson Middle School won the speed category in the middle school division beating 22 other teams. Caldwell Career Middle College won the speed category in the high school division, defeating 7 high school teams with a time of 26.962. Hudson Middle School also won the People’s Choice Award, given to the car the attendees voted as their overall favorite. Each team entered a car that was either custom-built or was created from an approved kit.

In the Creativity category, Jacobs Fork Middle School and St. Stephens High School took home top honors. In the open division, ASU’s North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies won for its two-bicycle design. A list with all winners and participating schools is below.

ASU’s physics, technology and design graduate students, and Googlers from the data center in Caldwell County, served as mentors for the teams.

View the complete results and event photos at www.ncgravitygames.com.

Please continue to visit this blog for more details about the next soapbox race. We're going to expand it to include more counties.

Winners
Creativity - First-place winners only
Middle School: Jacobs Fork Middle School
High School: St. Stephens High School
Open: North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies (NCCET) at ASU

People’s Choice Award: Hudson Middle School

Speed:
Middle School
First Place: Hudson Middle School
Second Place: William Lenoir Middle School (#31 car)
Third Place: Mountain View Elementary School

High School
First Place: Caldwell Career Center Middle College
Second Place: Newton-Conover High School
Third Place: Hickory High School

Open
First place - Google
Second place - ASU

Participating schools include the following:

Alleghany County Alleghany High School Piney Creek Elementary School Sparta Elementary School Avery County Avery County High School Cranberry Middle School Burke County East Burke High School Freedom High School East Burke Middle School Caldwell County Caldwell Career Center Middle College Collettsville School Hibriten High School Hudson Middle School Granite Falls Middle School William Lenoir Middle School

Happy Valley School Oak Hill School King's Creek Accelerated Elementary School Catawba County Hickory High School Newton-Conover High School St. Stephens High School Jacobs Fork Middle School Newton -Conover Middle School Northview Middle School Mountain View Elementary Catawba Rosenwald School NCCET/Appalachian State University Watauga County Green Valley Elementary School

Western North Carolina Gravity Games Soapbox Race Rolls into Downtown Lenoir

Google and ASU are seeking teams with brains and guts for engineering feat

Western North Carolina—do not start your engines. Huh?

Come Saturday, Nov. 19, Google and Appalachian State University (ASU) will be co-sponsoring the first-ever Western North Carolina Gravity Games Soapbox Race in downtown Lenoir, starting at 8:30 a.m.

Only the best, brightest and most courageous teams from area middle and high schools, colleges and businesses will use their engineering skills to design, construct and race in their own custom-built soapbox cars.

Competition will be fast, fun and fierce. The soapbox cars are motorless vehicles capable of racing downhill, using just gravity and potential mechanical energy as the only propulsion mechanisms. So, no engines allowed. But colored wigs and helmets are a must.

Google and ASU are seeking teams from Alleghany, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and Watauga counties. The event is free and open to the public. Prizes and trophies will be awarded based on speed and creativity.

The Gravity Games tie into ASU and Google’s support for science, math, technology and engineering (STEM) initiatives. Google is committed to developing North Carolina’s future workforce through its community relations activities and STEM initiatives. The Gravity Games will be a fun, educational, inspirational and competitive hands-on activity on basic engineering. ASU physics and technology graduate students and Googlers from the data center in Lenoir will be mentors for the teams. The Judging Committee will be comprised of representatives from Google, NC, Appalachian State University, Lenoir public officials and Caldwell County public officials.

Though we want everyone to be as creative as possible, soapbox cars will need to comply with designated safety and design standards. Safety first!

So if you think your team has what it takes to win, please call Carla Ramsdell at 828-262-8475 or email her at gravitygames@appstate.edu. Oct. 19 is the deadline to register a team. There will be a limit of 20 teams per division. The divisions are middle school, high school and the open division for university, corporate and private teams.

Details:

WHAT: The Western N.C. Gravity Games Soapbox Race
WHO: Middle school, high school and college students, business leaders, ASU representatives, Googlers from the N.C. data center
WHERE: At Church Street (between the First United Methodist Church’s parking lot and Harper Avenue) in downtown Lenoir, N.C.
WHEN: Nov. 19, 2011 at 8:30 a.m.

National Digital Literacy Tour Heads to Lenoir

Google is a leader in our approach to provide our users with a safe online experience. So much so that we're taking the show on the road!

Google, partnering with the iKeepSafe Internet Safety Coalition, will host two free workshops on May 12 at the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center as part of the Digital Literacy Tour.

The first event for teachers will be held in the afternoon.

The evening event, set from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m, is targeted toward parents and their children. These events will provide families with information and best practices for being safe online.

iKeepSafe representatives will provide insight and useful tips on how attendees can easily implement an Internet safety program in their homes.

Google Operations Manager and Lenoir resident Enoch Moeller and iKeepSafe President Marsali Hancock will lead the presentations. The invitation includes all of the details and please RSVP to digital-literacy-tour@google.com.

Please feel free to share the invite with any of your friends and family.

We look forward to seeing you!