Trip to Ann Arbor Pioneer High School

Just before Thanksgiving, Chief Engineer Andy Rogers and I trailered Car 51 to Ann Arbor Pioneer High School to talk to teacher Bobby Klemmer's advanced mathematics classes about the importance that math and science plays in engineering. We presented to all five of Mr. Klemmer's classes about the team, Car 51 and specifically what the role of mathematics was in Team Leader Paul Strefling's design of Car 51's optimized chassis system. All of the students were very smart and had many intelligent questions for us; helping to again remind us of the importance of our role in encouraging post-secondary education, especially that of a technical nature, in our communities.

12/15/08: I've added Mr. Klemmer's very nice comments below. Thanks so much for having us, Bobby! Also thanks to Mr. Borovsky for allowing us to store Car 51 in the Auto Show for the day!

"I would like to send my sincere thanks and appreciation to the Michigan State College of Engineering and the MSU Formula Racing Team, in particular. On November 25th, Adam Zemke (Project Manager) and Andy Rogers (Lead Engineer) represented the team and Michigan State Engineering very well by conducting multiple presentations for my advanced mathematics classes at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, MI. My Calculus and Pre-Calculus students were extremely interested and impressed with the possibilities that were shared with them about the practicality of high-level math and science. Adam and Andy were very informative and knowledgeable, answering many of the students' questions and enthusiastically presenting many details of the race car designed by the racing team. My students were inspired that day, and many having been talking about formula racing since then. As a matter of fact, a couple students mentioned that they want to consider attending MSU because of the Formula Racing Team. As a teacher, I am very grateful for opportunities to show my students the relevance of studying math and science. This was the epitome of such an opportunity. Thank you very much to Adam Zemke, Andy Rogers, the MSU Formula Racing Team, and MSU College of Engineering. Keep up the good work on the race cars, and I look forward to hopefully working with you again in the future. Go State!

Sincerely, Bobby Klemmer (1999 MSU graduate)"

Go Pioneers!

Adam