Dinner Tuesday to raise funds for WWU X Prize team; finals begin July 19 in Michigan

The Western Washington University X PRIZE team will hold a fundraising dinner on Tuesday, July 13, to help raise money to finance the team's trip to the finals round of the $10-million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition, which begins July 19 in Brooklyn, Mich.

The dinner event will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 13, at Nona Rosa's Ristorante in Bellingham. A $25 minimum donation gets attendees in the door and pays for an authentic home-cooked, Italian dinner that includes choice of entree, caesar salad and fresh-baked ficassa bread. Plus, attendees will get to hear the story Viking 45, WWU's entry in the X PRIZE competition. All proceeds go to support members of the WWU X PRIZE team while at the final events of the competition at Michigan International Speedway.

Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP so that the team can prepare an accurate amount of food. The $25 suggested donation does not cover beverages. To RSVP for the dinner, visit the team's Facebook event page here.

Most of the WWU team returned to Bellingham after the knockout round ended on June 26, but a few of the guys accompanied Viking 45 to Connecticut to work with engineer Mike Dabrowski on getting the V45's integrated motor assist system running correctly. For photos, visit http://99mpg.com/ProjectCars/westernwashingtonu/. The team could not add to the vehicle, as it must remain as it was when initially inspected. After finishing in Connecticut, the vehicle returned to Michigan to await the finals round.

Just 15 of the original 26 vehicles from 12 of the original 21 teams that started the knockout round of competition passed the necessary range and dynamic stability tests, which were overseen by a team from Consumer Reports.

“This stage proved to be highly challenging for many of our contenders,” said Eric Cahill, senior director of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, in a press release. “We continue to marvel at the innovations we’re seeing, but this is an X PRIZE and accordingly, a very difficult technical challenge. We applaud the teams that advanced this far in the competition.”

The car in each class that exceeds the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, meets the emissions and performance requirements and completes the on-road challenges with the fastest time wins. The prize money will be presented at an award ceremony in September.

Stay tuned to Western Today for on-location updates from the finals round of the X PRIZE competition. How to stay up to date:

Twitter:

• Updates specific to WWU will be posted on the @wwunews Twitter feed.
• The WWU X Prize team is on Twitter at @WWUXPRIZETEAM.
• Follow the Progressive Automotive X Prize: @progautoxp.
• Conduct a search for hashtag #PIAXP.

Facebook:

• WWU X Prize team
• Western Washington University
• Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize
  

Blogs:

• Official blog of the WWU X Prize team
• Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize blog

Websites:

• Western Today
• Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE

At the beginning of the competition, 111 teams with 136 vehicles were given the green light to compete. Today, after the end of the knockout round, just 12 teams and 15 vehicles remain. They are:

Mainstream Class  (Two vehicles, one team)

Alternative Class – Tandem  (Five vehicles, four teams)