2010 Henry Meigs Scholarship Award Recipients

The Schuylkill Center is pleased to name The West Philadelphia Hybrid X Team as the recipient of the 2010 Henry Meigs Scholarship Award

The West Philly EVX Team is comprised of students and teachers from West Philadelphia High School’s Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, a program of Philadelphia Academies, Inc.  The West Philly Team has built and raced alternative fuel vehicles since 1998.  They won the National Tour de Sol competition in 2002, 2005 and 2006 and are currently competing for the Progressive Automotive X Prize – a competition to design, build and sell super-efficient cars that people will want to buy.

This team of inner-city students from a public high school has surprised skeptics by beating out teams from well-financed businesses and prestigious universities. They have attracted wide attention and acclaim for their success in building and racing fuel-efficient and technologically-advanced cars.   They’ve also drawn notice from environmental agencies that recognize the team as a shining example of how young people are part of the solution in addressing climate change and environmental challenges.
                                                                                             
In 2008 the West Philly EVX Team was awarded a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency to advance the environmental education aspect of the program.  The Schuylkill Center worked closely with the team to draw connections between the efforts of the students in the automotive shop to the larger picture of environmental change. 

Schuylkill Center educators led the students in activities and conversations addressing issues from the immediate concerns of the West Philly neighborhood to the atmospheric changes behind global warming.  Students and teachers visited The Center to gain insight from the natural world as well as the solar array.

Schuylkill Center educators worked with the students to voice the connection between energy consumption and environmental degradation.  The students were able to draw on this knowledge and inspiration during their visits to the US EPA headquarters in Washington, DC; Ford Foundation offices in Michigan and a visit to the Today Show in New York City. 

The Schuylkill Center is proud to honor the West Philly EVX Team for their accomplishments in and out of the automotive shop.  The team said it best in their application to the X Prize foundation:

"The next generation stands to inherit the environmental and social disaster we are creating by our unrelenting hunger for oil. Our entry in the X Prize competition will enable young people to address the most serious issue facing our world not only by designing a fuel efficient car, but by engaging their peers and their community in the fight for our future."