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Posted On: 04/22/2009

Spirit of Innovation award-winners combine education and entrepreneurship

PlantServices.com

Following stiff competition from 65 high-school teams across the country, winners of the 2009 Pete Conrad "Spirit of Innovation" Awards were recognized for their science projects on April 4, 2009, at NASA's Ames Research Center. The award is named for the late Charles 'Pete' Conrad — a naval aviator and astronaut who, as commander of Apollo XII in 1969, was the third person to walk on the moon.

The teams were challenged to create an entrepreneurial enterprise and develop a concept centered on the areas of lunar exploration, innovative products for use in personal space-flight or developing a way to use renewable energy. During the summit, 21 high school finalists presented their concepts and participated in workshops with members of the scientific community.

One of the finalists was the NASA Ames-sponsored team from the Latino College Preparatory Academy (LCPA) in San Jose, Calif. LCPA's project, "Sunbeam Rider," included a golf-cart sized electric car, provided by NASA Ames, and a solar panel on the car to provide electrical energy to the batteries. Building a prototype charging station was also involved. The innovation featured an option that used a collection of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a single solar cell instead of multiple solar cells — significantly reducing the number of solar cells required to charge the battery.