Despite the rain at Saddleback College and last-minute obstacles, five students (plus one alumnus, driver Jose Guerrero) from Estancia High School’s Engineering Design Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway earned fourth-place against 28 other teams in the Vital Link Electric Vehicle (EV) Challenge, considered the ultimate showcase of students pushing the limits of design, assembly, and testing to prepare to drive the go-kart. 

“The whole day was nerve-wracking, but it was a great real-world experience,” said senior Pete Villegas. 

With no previous knowledge of how to build a racecar, much less one powered by two 12-volt batteries, Villegas and fellow seniors Henry Bartsch, Quetzali Gonzalez, Allison Guardado, and Belen Lopez did exactly that with the help of Engineering Design teacher Breanna Najera and mentor Mat Garcia of Harbor Soaring Society.

The challenges started with the body of the racecar, piecing it together without instructions and with the parts arriving in two separate shipments. “We’d never built a car before, so we were figuring out how the pieces fit together without any instructions,” Pete said. 

“We didn’t know who would be driving, either, so we had to adapt the car to possibly fit a taller driver,” added Henry. After designing an extension for the car, the team took a field trip to Parkway Ford Heritage Mission, where welder Jack Burns fabricated a frame extension from fully dimensioned sketches provided by the team. 

The vehicle electrical system was designed and built by the student team and included the required battery pack holding a maximum of 24 volts of charge. The race would be judged on whether the electrical system could maintain a minimum amount of energy consumption while keeping the speed as high as possible. Or, as Quetzali explained, “The faster you go and the less energy you use equals more points.”

Once the car and its electrical system were ready, the team presented their design to a panel of industry professionals. Students were judged on the overall design of the car; its electrical system; and their knowledge of math, physics, electrical and mechanical engineering, and other disciplines needed to complete the challenge. 

“They had a good Gantt chart showing off their management of the project, and they did an excellent job explaining their design process. I was so proud when I learned they earned first place in the Design Presentation component of the competition,” Najera said.

The go-kart had to pass two safety inspections to be cleared to drive in the race — one a month prior, and one the day of. Though they believed they had fixed every point of concern before race day, at the final inspection, a new obstacle popped up. “When we pushed the car forward, it moved forward while the brake was applied, which was bad. We had to fix that right before we could get on the track,” Quetzali said.     

Despite the challenges, the entire experience was important to completing the Engineering Design pathway. While many students enter the engineering pathway as a freshman, some develop an interest in the field as early as elementary school. 

“I did robotics at California Elementary, then got into robotics and coding through Project Lead the Way at TeWinkle Middle School. The Engineering Design pathway at Estancia was just the next logical step, and now I can transfer directly into an engineering program in college,” Pete said.

“Everything we’ve learned has built up to this project and the competition. It’s put us so much farther ahead in engineering,” Henry said.

By connecting students with industry professionals such as Burns and Garcia, Najera hopes to give them more real-world experiences to build upon. “We want to show our students how what they learn in the Engineering Design pathway applies to everyday challenges they would encounter in the workforce so they are more well-rounded when they graduate,” she said.

The four-year Engineering Design pathway at Estancia integrates academics, technical preparation, and career preparation in the engineering technology and design industry. The challenging pathway fosters a strong connection to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers beyond the classroom. Learn more about the variety of CTE pathways offered by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District on our website.

To view more photos from the EV Challenge, please visit the district’s online photo gallery.