Grand Prix promotes clean air, energy independence

The fourth Grand Prix of BGSU will be run on Saturday (April 18). The track opens at 11 a.m.; the race begins at 2 p.m.

Free and open to the public, the event features student drivers and crews, racing karts wheel to wheel using renewable, ethanol-based E-85 fuel. The track is a one-fifth mile, six-turn road course at the “BGSU Intercollegiate Speedway,” sometimes referred to as campus parking Lot N, adjacent to Memorial Hall and Jerome Library. The Grand Prix race is scheduled for 75 laps and 15 miles. Preceding the race will be practice and qualifying.

Eight teams are entered in the event. Seven are from BGSU and the eighth is based at Eastern Michigan University.

The goals of the Grand Prix are to support a cleaner environment and energy independence, utilizing racing to promote renewable energy, applying scientific principles and classroom teaching, and bringing the thrills of motorsports directly to the BGSU community.

General parking for the event will be in Lot 16 behind the Moore Musical Arts Center.

The event is produced by the BGSU Motorsports Club and the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, with major support from Marion-based Ohio Corn Growers Marketing. The Physics Student Association, Student Construction Management and Sigma Nu fraternity are providing support staff.

For more information, call BGSU Motorsports at 2-3638, email bgsuracing@bgsu.edu or visit www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/motorsports.


Learn, be inspired at Sebo entrepreneurship event

Two internationally recognized entrepreneurs who successfully developed groundbreaking brands will be the featured speakers at this year’s Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship event, on April 24 in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom, Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

An expert in e-commerce strategies, brand creation and building a digital customer database, Terry Jones is the founder and former CEO of Travelocity online travel site. Travelocity has more than 40 million members and $5 billion in bookings. Jones will share his stories and insights at the noon luncheon.

Blake Mycoskie created five successful businesses before he turned 30. His latest venture is TOMS: Shoes for a Better Tomorrow, which donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold. TOMS has given away more than 115,000 pairs of shoes to children around the world. Mycoskie will speak at 9:30 a.m.

The morning’s concurrent speakers, beginning at 10:45, will be William Luse of IBM, on “The World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smarter,” Michael Hoskins of Pervasive Data Management and Integration Products, on “Cloud Computing and the Digital Data Revolution” and Greg Knudson of Rocket Ventures, on “Financing Your Start-Up Company.”

The concurrent sessions will be repeated at 2 p.m.

The cost for the day’s events is $200 per person, or $1,300 for a table of eight. Reservations should be made by Wednesday (April 15). For more information and to register, visit http://sebo.bgsu.edu or phone 2-8181.

Now in its sixth year, the Sebo Series has become one of the region’s premier entrepreneurship events. It is sponsored by BGSU Trustee Robert Sebo and hosted by the Dallas-Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the College of Business Administration.


Inquiry Summit to focus on improved teaching practices

To help improve science and mathematics education, BGSU, along with its partners in the Northwest Ohio Center of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (NWO), brings together more than 200 teachers each month for professional development in science and mathematics in the Inquiry Series.

On April 23, NWO, which is funded by the Ohio Board of Regents, will hold the Inquiry Summit at the Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, from 4:30-8:30 p.m. Participants will share what they have learned from previous sessions of the NWO Inquiry Series and expand their knowledge of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educational resources. The event is free and open to K-12 in-service and pre-service teachers, school administrators and higher education faculty. Online registration is recommended at http://nwocenter.org, but onsite registration is available the day of the event.

Giving the keynote address will be Dr. Jodi Haney, School of Teaching and Learning and Department of Environmental Sustainability, who will address student motivation as well as practical and innovative ways to improve school and classroom learning environments, curriculum and instruction. Other presenters will include Reed Steele, director of the Challenger Learning Center, Sloan Eberly of the Toledo Science Center, and Holly Coffey of the Toledo Botanical Gardens.

During the Inquiry Summit, NWO will announce the winners of its STEM Education Leadership Awards. These awards, one for a science educator and one for a mathematics educator, will recognize not only excellence in teaching but also a continued effort to increase content and pedagogical knowledge and improve leadership skills.

Partners with BGSU in the regional center are faculty from the University of Toledo’s CATALyST program, the University of Findlay, Owens Community College and Lourdes College; teachers from 19 counties; college students training to be teachers; public and private school administrators; educational service centers; state support teams; community agencies, and a variety of businesses and organizations throughout northwest Ohio.