There is certainly nothing new about Project Based Learning (PBL). Learning by doing has always been a powerful way to educate. However, getting students to interact with a real world learning project depends largely on the right project with the proper depth and challenges. NEHR Speedcraft has created HOT ROD SCHOOL in a BOX that includes a special kit and consulting that provides the right scale and excitement to engage a wide range of students including Shop/Manufacturing, Auto, CAD Design, Graphic Arts, Business, and Marketing in the process of product development through the experience of building a real car!
Please review our experience and progress with our HOT ROD SCHOOL in a BOX program. Contact us anytime with any questions or for more details. Thanks!
Professor Gary Walters with the GT23.
"We bought 'HOT ROD SCHOOL in a BOX' from NEHR Speedcraft to build a '23 T-bucket from scratch at Macomb College. Tom and Dave were instrumental in the success of this project. They helped us tear down walls between our own internal departments, such as Design, Welding, Auto, and Graphics (MACA). They taught us how to build joint large scale projects. Tom and Dave are not only great to work with, but they're great teachers themselves. Because of their past (vast) experience building cars themselves, they know the purpose of every last nut and bolt, angle, joint, etc. You can't ask them something they don't know. And while we threw them a last minute curve ball by converting and fitting a 5.3L fuel injected to alcohol, they worked through the problems and solved them without hesitation. Because of this we plan to challenge them with two more cars, one with a 6.2L converted to CNG and the next using fuel cell technology. Fasten your seat belts! We're confident they can pull this off."
Gary Walters - Professor, Macomb Community College, MI
Art-to-Part: Review this brief presentation of a real world Project Based Learning experience!
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NEHR Speedcraft has been chosen as sole source provider for our ’27 Roadster, fabrication, engineering, and project management by Macomb Community College to work together creating an exciting Battery Electric Vehicle… BEV27! Check out the website for more details.
The Fordson Energy Alternative Roadster or F.E.A.R., is a cross-curricular project that will provide a real world experience to high school students by introducing them to an alternative energy vehicle. Students will learn how automobiles are designed and built by working in teams—from conception to reality—or Art-to-Part. By assembling a Model T they’ll experience the day-to-day complexities of interdepartmental communications, marketing requirements, engineering changes, assembly, manufacturing, and various levels of automation.
Baker College of Flint, Michigan has a car club that just purchased a kit from NEHR Speedcraft. They are really excited about getting started with their build. They have hopes of having it finished for Autorama 2012. Stay tuned for more progress.
Here's a view of the Baker kit being built at NEHR Speedcraft.
NEHR Speedcraft has a 40 year history in engineering, designing, and building custom cars. The owners of NEHR Speedcraft bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to a real world project like building a hot rod.
David Nedock
David Nedock is president and Chief Engineer for NEHR. Dave has raced a multitude of vehicles over the last 30 years beginning with door slammers, moving into altereds, then alcohol funny cars and ending with custom street rods.
Dave retired from Ford Motor Company in 2006 after a 27 year career where he was a hands-on design engineer and Project Manager for the Ford Mustang. His design expertise includes:
Systems Integration
Chassis systems
Suspension
Brakes
Steering
Powertrain
Ride and handling
Extensive knowledge of Reliability engineering, Fault Tree Analysis, Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (DFMEA)
Former Ford Design Institute Instructor
Dave’s extensive real world engineering and fabrication talents make NEHR Speedcraft cars mechanically sound, safe, and well engineered.
Tom Kuhr
Tom Kuhr is the other half of NEHR Speedcraft and is credited with developing the original NEHR T Roadster design.
Tom comes from 15 years of providing technical and training materials for automotive consulting companies and for the last 17 years has owned Spyderhuff Design, specializing in graphic design, Web development, and technical publications.
Tom currently is on the Product Development Advisory Board at Macomb Community College and the Advisory Council for the Graphic Arts department at Henry Ford Community College where he has taught adult continuing education courses there throughout the years.
Tom’s passion and talent in graphic design, illustration, Web design, as well as custom car building provides an integral part of interfacing with students to help with marketing, branding, and ideations.
What do you mean by getting people to work together? Isn’t this just an auto shop project?
No. Read the proposal between NEHR Speedcraft and Macomb Community College and see how encompassing a project like this can really be.
