The Harker Innovation Team has been selected as one of three semifinalists for their dashboard for the car of the future. It was entered in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize DASH+ contest, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Grand Prize winner is being judged now and a popular vote will be taken into account for the final decision.

DASH+ challenged students to consider increasing energy efficency in the ever-changing automotive landscape. The goal? To design a dashboard that helps drivers maximize fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact by incorporating vehicle information and real-time feedback. HIT’s plan includes a graphic design, a technical plan and a video pitch for their design, the Enviro-HEART – Environment Helping Essential Adaptive Response Technology.

The dashboard panel, a result of extensive research, takes instantaneous feedback and displays the collected and interpreted data in a visually enhanced console. It offers the driver alternative transportation possibilities, information about regenerative braking and visual cues about the vehicle’s overall efficiency. The project was truly a mark of teamwork: “From when we built CARE in December 2009, we developed a good sense of the various talents and skills each team member excelled at so we were each able to contribute in significant ways,” Isaac Madan, Gr. 11, said.

For their  efforts, all semifinalist teams will receive Flip video cameras. However, HIT members need your votes to win the grand prize: a VIP trip to Detroit to pitch their ideas to automotive industry representatives and receive valuable mentoring from leaders in advanced vehicle development. On May 11, a DASH+ film crew stopped by the Saratoga campus to film the students at work on their project and interview them for an upcoming promotional video.

Voting will open May 1 and last until May 30. For more information, please visit the contest’s website.