MINDDRIVE Helping Children Learn

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Schooling

Published on Friday, 31 January 2014 20:50

Last Updated on 03 February 2014

Monica Costa

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MINDDRIVE is fast becoming a familiar name in the world of education, and cars, though not everyone knows why these two different sectors of society are so closely linked with this name. MINDRIVE is a non-profit organisation set up and run in Kansas City, designed to help young, at risk teens to think about their future, and how they can use their vision to shape and develop the urban work force.

Although this is most obviously an educational ‘mission’, it’s how they they apply this to contemporary life that has large name sponsors like Hertz, Bridgestone, and many others lending their aid and funds to help propel this innovation forward.

Their means of teaching critical thinking, mathematics and science has the majority of MINDDRIVE’s projects inspiring the teens to build green, electric cars, something which is an important commodity, linked to an even more important global issue: pollution and global warming. The excellent mentor work provided by the adults to help inspire the children and teenagers involved in this work means that the whole project can be simply broken down into two areas of work: the electrical propulsion systems, and the design of the light body and framework.

The unique mix of experience, vision, and tools has seen the organisation steal many headlines, not to mention automotive shows with their futurist innovation. The first car MINDDRIVE made was a featured part of the Pixar Motorama in June 2011; Project Lola was a sleek, high-powered car that recorded the equivalent of 300 MPG when it was tested in 2010. But this isn’t the only impressive car that has been designed and built, in early 2013, reports came in that the teens at MINDDRIVE has created a car that was powered by social media fuel. Quite simply, for every tweet, likes, and views across various social networking sites, the car would be powered up and ready to go. The unusual and ingenious design gives all involved, and government officials, a glimpse at how far green technology can go thanks to the next generation.

As more and more sponsors back the organisation, and as word of mouth spreads, it seems that MINDRRIVE has a lot more mileage in helping keep teenagers out of trouble, while giving them a sustainable and useful education that can be applied to everyday life.