Franklin College has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Ball Venture Fund to teach sustainable energy through electric vehicles. The college will purchase electric Go-Karts that will be incorporated into physics coursework during a January intensive course at the college, a series of programs for middle and high school students and trainings for K-12 STEM teachers throughout Indiana.

“The Sustainable Energy Education through Electric Vehicles project will inspire the next generation of innovators and problem solvers in the growing sector of clean energy,” said Arbin Thapaliya, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the chemistry and physics department. “It will create opportunities for hands-on learning through the building, testing and driving of a road-ready electric Go-Kart.”

Thapaliya, who will develop and oversee the project, said it will provide hands-on learning about the electrification of vehicles, associated battery technology, solar power and solar charging stations. By combining solar energy and electric vehicle education with an emphasis on problem solving and creativity, the curriculum will teach students how to innovate for a more sustainable future and prepare them to enter employment sectors that are growing as fast as or faster than the average of all occupations according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Ball Venture Fund competition, sponsored by the Ball Brothers Foundation of Muncie, Ind., is administered by Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI). ICI provides colleges and universities with seed funding for initiatives to stimulate creativity and innovation and foster competition and collaboration among the state’s 29 private, non-profit campuses. Franklin’s project was one of only five selected to receive funding.

For more information, please contact the Franklin College Office of Communications at (317) 738-8185.

POSTED May 24, 2024