Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist was off to the races Tuesday at Square One’s 16th Annual Innovative Vehicle Design (IVD) Competition at the ˿����Ƶ GM Mobility Research Center.

Hundreds of middle school and high school students from across the state competed.

Gilchrist spoke to the students about how the skills they’re learning through this competition are just the beginning. He also posed for photos and waved the flag to start the Mini Innovative Vehicle and Full-Scale Innovative Vehicle races.  

Teams participated in three on-site challenges during the event:

• Autonomous Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge
• Mini Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge
• Full-Scale Innovative Vehicle Challenge

Some V2X Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge students who previously competed virtually also gave demonstrations. The V2X challenge simulates the sensors and coding necessary for successful autonomous movement.

The Autonomous Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge project tasks students with re-engineering a Power Wheels Jeep into an autonomous vehicle. The Mini Innovative Vehicle Design Racing Challenge requires teams to re-engineer an electric 1/10th-scale RC vehicle for optimal performance. The Full-Scale Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge inspires teams to transform a gas-powered go-kart kit or build a car from the ground up into an electric or hybrid electric vehicle featuring an innovative component that sets it apart.  

The winners in each competition were:

Autonomous IVD

• Innovation Award: Divine Child High School 
• Engineering Award: Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team A1902 
• Perfect Pitch Award: Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team A2309
• Performance Award: Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team A2309 (first); Divine Child High School (second); Northwest High School (third)
• Ambassadorship Award: Northwest Education Services Career Tech  (Traverse City) Team A1901 
• Square One Award: Divine Child High School
• Craftsmanship Award: Clinton High School 
• Presentation Award: Hartland High School 

Full-Scale IVD

• Innovation Award: Williamston High School
• Engineering Award: Oxford High School Team F1504
• Perfect Pitch Award: Oxford High School Team F1504 and Oakland Schools Technical Campuses (tie)
• Performance Award: Southfield High School (first); Williamston High School (second); Oxford High School Team F1504 (third)
• Ambassadorship Award: AGBU Alex & Marie Manoogian School Team F1505 and Team F2303 (tie)
• Square One Award: Stevenson High School
• Craftsmanship Award: Oakland Schools Technical Campuses 
• Presentation Award: Oxford High School Team F1503

Mini IVD

• Innovation Award: Stevenson High School Team M2319 (first); Jackson Area Career Center (second)
• Engineering Award: Roseville High School (first); Stevenson High School Team M2318 (second)
• Perfect Pitch Award: Oak Park Middle School Team M2323 (first); Kingston Jr./Sr. High School (second)
• Ambassadorship Award: Reese High School (first); Flint Cultural Academy (second)
• Square One Award: Huron Area Tech Center (first); Glenn W. Levey Middle School (second)
• Performance: Stevenson High School Team M2319 (first); Clinton High School Team M1204 (second); St. Louis High School (third)
• Craftsmanship Award: Oak Park High School Team M1203 (first); Clinton High School Team M1205 (second)
• Presentation Award: Kingston Jr./Sr. High School (first); Reese Middle School (second)
• Top Speed Challenge: Stevenson High School Team M2319

V2X IVD (Virtual)

High School

• Innovative Engineering: Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team V2331 (first); Roseville High School (second); Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School Team V2217 (third)
• Performance Award: Oak Park High School (first); Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School Team V2213 (second); Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team V2335 (third)
• Square One Award: Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team V2329
• Presentation Award: Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) Team V2335 (first); Martin Luther King Jr. Senior School Team V2213 (second); Jackson Area Career Center (third)

Middle School

• Innovative Engineering: EIT Academy (first); Davis Middle School Team V2211 (second)
• Square One Award: Algoma Christian School (first); Glenn W. Levey Middle School (second)
• Performance Award: Davis Middle School Team V2015 (first); EIT Academy (second); Algoma Christian School (third)
• Presentation Award: Reese Middle School Team V2203 (first); Reese Middle School Team V2314 (second)

Elementary

• Engineer’s Journal Award: Escanaba Upper Elementary School
• STEM Steward Award: Reese Elementary, Middle and High School
• CS Superstar Award: Barkell Elementary School (Hancock)
• Innovative Design Award: Escanaba Upper Elementary School
• Square One Award: R.B. Havens Elementary
• Performance Award: Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools (first); Barkell Elementary School (Hancock) (second); R.B. Havens Elementary (third)
• Presentation Award: Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools

Scholarship winners

• ITS Michigan Masters of Mobility Scholarship: Garrett Roels of Fraser High School, Riley Burns of Hartland High School and Jacob Snover of Northwest Education Services Career Tech (Traverse City) 
• Mike Bammer Memorial Scholarship: Noah Brown of Oakland Schools Technical Campuses
• Zach MacLean Memorial Scholarship: Steven Jones of Oak Park High School

Square One is a Michigan-based non-profit educational organization focused on developing talent in under-resourced communities and growing the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce for tomorrow. Through partnerships with higher education institutions and the industry, Square One empowers teachers and students with hands-on learning experiences around high-quality STEM projects.

This was the fourth time the competition took place at ˿����Ƶ. To check out a photo gallery of the day, click .

˿����Ƶ will host the Square One Education Network’s 16th Annual Innovative Vehicle Design (IVD) Challenges on May 16, 2023 at the ˿����Ƶ GM Mobility Research Center (MRC) in Flint.

Sixty middle and high school teams will compete. Kicking off at 9 a.m., the event includes demonstrations from V2X students who previously competed virtually and three separate competitions: 

• Autonomous Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge
• Mini Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge
• Full-Scale Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge

Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist will be on site from 2 to 3 p.m. to speak with students and wave the flag to start the Mini Innovative Vehicle and Full-Scale Innovative Vehicle races.

The Autonomous Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge project tasks students with re-engineering a Power Wheels Jeep into an autonomous vehicle. The Mini Innovative Vehicle Design Racing Challenge requires teams to re-engineer an electric 1/10th-scale RC vehicle for optimal performance. The Full-Scale Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge involves transforming a gas-powered go-kart kit into an electric or hybrid electric vehicle or building an electric or hybrid car from the ground up. Vehicles must feature an innovative component that sets them apart. 

“Square One students are problem solvers. They’re working on things like sensors and controls, autonomous development, vehicle efficiency—just like the biggest mobility-focused companies in the world—and they’re learning these concepts and applications in a hands-on way, in collaborative teams, with real deadlines and budgets, just like Kettering students and just like professional engineers,” said Scott Travis, ˿����Ƶ Director of Specialty Admissions. “Kettering has a 100-year legacy in automotive and mobility industries. These are students who would thrive here as undergraduates.”

Square One is a Michigan-based non-profit educational organization focused on developing talent in under-resourced communities and growing the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce for tomorrow. Through partnerships with higher education institutions and the industry, Square One empowers teachers and students with hands-on learning experiences around high-quality STEM projects.

This is the fourth year the University has partnered with Square One to host the event.

“Square One’s Innovative Vehicle Design program provides youth with a real-world, relevant experience that not only builds their skills in science, technology, engineering and math but also builds their awareness for college and career pathways to a brighter future for themselves and for Michigan’s role as a leader in the future mobility industry,” said Barb Land, CEO of Square One Education Network.

New this year is a career expo that will take place the morning of the event. Exhibitors expected to showcase their opportunities include the Michigan Department of Transportation, WSP, AECOM, Washtenaw Community College, Integral Blue and the Michigan Works! Association.

Leaders in mobility will give remarks in the morning, including Glenn Stevens, Executive Director of MICHauto and Vice President of Automotive and Mobility Initiatives at the Detroit Regional Chamber; Tim Slusser, Chief of Mobility Innovation in the City of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation; and Elaina Farnsworth, Chief Executive Officer of the NEXT Education. 

In his role, Stevens leads the MICHauto program in its efforts to promote, grow, and retain Michigan’s automotive and next-generation mobility industries. Slusser directs the development of public and private partnerships and informs policies related to various mobility initiatives and deployments. At NEXT Education, people receive certification and training to upskill or reskill to become the workers of tomorrow in fields such as vehicle electrification, industrial mobility, cybersecurity and smart city technologies.

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˿����Ƶ students are working on ways to make school buses safer.

The team is in the fourth year of a five-year project with Navistar, an Illinois-based manufacturer of school buses and semi trucks. This year, the Kettering team is developing the automation of vehicle sensing behavior capabilities to classify human transient behavior to detect when a child and/or an article of a child’s clothing is pinched in the bus door, to automate passenger counting, and to detect bullying and other dangerous passenger situations.

Students are using artificial intelligence, algorithms, and models to develop a low-cost platform to take photos of the children and keep a count to report to the driver, ensuring the drivers don’t leave students on the bus when they park and leave the garage for the day. Other artificial intelligence-based software will detect if a child and/or their backpack or clothing is in the danger zone of getting pinched in the door.

So far, Navistar is pleased with the students’ work.

“This is thinking outside of the box,” said Dr. Teik-Khoon Tan, Navistar Senior Technical Specialist. “We need innovation, so our strategy is to partner with universities. Without it, we lack other innovative perspectives. Kettering students, the learning and growth are very high. I’m very impressed.”

He praised Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Dr. Mehrdad Zadeh for his “high emotional quotient” or ability to understand others’ emotions.

“[Zadeh] listens, and [the students] can learn what our customer really needs,” Tan said. “Listen to what our pain points are so we can be in a good marriage. This is a perfect marriage. I’m very glad.”

In the first three years of the partnership, students worked on autonomous sensors and video, segmentation and behavioral learning.

“All of this is part of artificial intelligence, and now we’re getting into behavioral learning when you step into the bus. They will know who you are, when you’re bullying kids,” Tan said, noting the system will know this behavior is inappropriate.

Instead of using computers, the team uses recycled cell phones to capture the data, which is a cost-efficient way to provide customers with the safety applications they need. 

“This is important for production because we don’t have to redevelop everything off the shelf,” Tan said.  

He and Noah Wilson, advanced technology engineer at Navistar, have been working with the team.

“The students are very bright and clearly hardworking,” Wilson said. “Pretty much all of the work has been done by the students. We’ve been in more of an advisory role.”

Amanuel Weldemichael (‘23, CE) has been working on the automatic passenger counter portion of the project.

“I am interested in [Advanced Driver Assistance Systems] ADAS and autonomous vehicle solutions,” he said.

His biggest challenge has been using well-known models on edge devices for real-time applications.​  

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