Tesla announced the first recipients of the company’s Nevada K-12 Education Investment Fund — a $37.5 million investment by Tesla that supports K-12 STEM and sustainability education initiatives. An initial distribution of $76,000 has been granted to Solar Rollers to bring its innovative energy education program to Reno-Sparks students, as the initiation of a multiyear expansion throughout Nevada. Participating high school teams will design, build and race custom solar-powered radio-controlled cars.
Solar Rollers, a growing Colorado-based energy education non-profit that runs competitions in Denver, Dallas, Dubai and the Bay Area, is excited to expand its services to the Reno-Sparks area with the support of Tesla’s Nevada K-12 Education Investment Fund. This investment will see Nevada students working in teams to design, build and optimize complete clean energy systems that incorporate generation, storage, efficient use and reliability. This school year’s program will culminate in 12 high school teams competing in a public trophy race event in Reno. Most importantly, Solar Rollers helps students gain the technical skills and understanding to improve energy systems — at every scale — as energy decision-makers and members of the next generation workforce.
As one of the initial nine organizations selected by Tesla for this investment, Solar Rollers will use the investment to engage high school students in hands-on STEM and the study of energy-based climate change solutions. The 12 Solar Rollers teams will use sophisticated materials kits and a supportive online course to design and build high-performance solar RC cars before coming together to race with one another in Reno in May of 2019.
The goal of Tesla’s investment is to encourage students of all backgrounds to consider a career in STEM or sustainability, and to develop the next generation of engineers in Nevada.
“Solar Rollers is excited to expand our energy education program to the Reno-Sparks area with the support of Tesla, a company that has accelerated the transition to clean energy transport. Student innovation with these solar racecars is fun, and it’s relevant for their careers and for Tesla’s investment into the future workforce of Nevada.” said Noah Davis, Executive Director of Solar Rollers.
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