Promoting STEM with an Electric Energy System

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) has been designated as a demonstration Net-Zero Energy installation meaning it should attempt to generate as much energy as it uses. With a primary mission of education, USAFA has a unique opportunity to contribute to the Net-Zero Energy efforts while at the same time promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Within USAFA, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has developed a Green Energy Lab to further both faculty and student understanding of solar, wind, and other energy generation technologies and their applications. Over the last several years and including the current year, undergraduate senior capstone teams have designed and developed a highly mobile renewable/green energy system supporting the Net Zero goal. The system consists of an all-electric off-road vehicle with an off-road energy storage trailer that can store power generated from solar, wind, and mechanical sources. The complete system can be easily driven or carried to virtually any location or venue such as University Football games, graduation ceremonies, and other local energy related events. Being mobile, the system provides an opportunity for the exposure of green/renewable systems to primary and secondary school age children who are primary STEM targets. The system has been built with STEM outreach in mind and specifically allows for hands on demonstrations and fun experiments that can be done anywhere including school parking lots. As an engineering challenge, each year one of our capstone teams will take on the task of improving and expanding the capabilities of the system thus requiring the capstone students to acquire in-depth, handson knowledge of many different systems and engineering problems including multiple voltage levels, AC and DC power conversion, energy storage, power distribution, and economics of energy. This paper describes the energy system, the STEM outreach benefits, and the relevance to undergraduate engineering.