Samo students design technology to harness new energy sources
Claire GoldbergStaff WriterSamo students Ryan Tepper (’13) and Julian Mickelson (’13), also co-president of the Samohi Solar Alliance (SSA), are competing in the 2013 Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge.According to the Siemens website, the competition is an environmental sustainability challenge for K-12 students that gives them the means to better their schools and communities.In April 2012, Santa Monica won the Siemens Sustainable Midsize Community Award for the Sustainable City Plan (SCP), which incorporates many different green programs, such as the Bicycle Action Plan, Buy Local and the Green Business Ordinance. The challenge and award are both hosted by the same organization.Siemens contestants are given the opportunity to harness modern technologies and ideas to help better their schools and communities.Tepper said that he is doing the project partly for the $50,000 scholarship offered. Tepper is the main group leader for the education division of SSA, and actively participates in helping to solve environmental issues.“Our idea is to make something that harnesses vibration energy,” Tepper said. “We want to take a machine that converts the vibrations of a car going over the road into electricity.”Mickelson said that Tepper told him about the program, and that the two came across their idea while reading an article about transmitting electricity through concrete.“My interest was first sparked by my involvement in SSA,” Mickelson said. “It has reached its apogee with my acceptance to a dual degree energy research program at University of Pennsylvania.”According to the Siemens website, the competition allows students to learn more about the environment, while competing for a large scholarship.“By supporting outstanding students today, and recognizing the teachers and schools that inspire their excellence, the Foundation helps nurture tomorrow’s scientists and engineers,” the Siemens Foundation website said. “We’re committed to the future…and to those who will create it.”cgoldberg@thesamohi.com