Students and faculty from the University of Notre Dame’s electric car Irish Racing Team joined with their counterparts from Brigham Young University to direct the electricity merit badge booth at the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree earlier this month in Fort A.P. Hill, Va.p. Some 2,000 scouts worked on a 10-step project involving the electrically powered race cars sponsored by Notre Dame and BYU, with about 80 percent completing the work and earning the badge. Dominion Virginia Power collaborated with the two universities and the Boy Scouts on the project.p. The Notre Dame team included Randy Rausch, a senior computer science and engineering major; Steve Bomeli, a senior preprofessional studies major with a minor in mechanical engineering; Tim Dysart, a senior computer science and engineering major; Tom Silio, a junior electrical engineering major; Matt Steenberg, a junior electrical engineering major; and Nicholas Matich, a high school senior from Alexandria, Va., who is the son of two Notre Dame graduates, Nick and Jeanne Matich.p. The project was coordinated by William Berry, professor of electrical engineering at Notre Dame and the Irish Racing Team’s faculty advisor.p. Created in 1994, the Irish Racing Team develops and races an Indy-style car against similar vehicles from 12 other universities nationwide. The project focuses on the development of fast and efficient electric vehicle propulsion systems in an effort to promote and further the technology of zero-emission vehicles.p. Notre Dame’s single-seat, open-wheeled racer uses 28 AC Delco 12-volt batteries that power a Delco-Remy AC motor. The Formula Lightning chassis is designed by the Solar and Electric Racing Association of Phoenix.
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