November 20, 2014 VOLU M E 31 | I SS UE 21 | 5 0 ¢
WheatRidgeTranscript.com J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Technical expertise WRHS launches new STEM program By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com When Chuck Sprague and his students step into the basement classroom at Wheat Ridge High School, even on the coldest of winter days, the room quickly heats up with the enthusiasm and bustle of work. On the morning of Nov. 12, a day that would scarcely break into double digit temperatures, Wheat Ridge teachers Sprague and Ron Livingston were joined by University of Colorado Denver instructor Doug Gallagher, UCD graduates and students in the high school’s first STEM-Engineering program, dubbed Wheat Ridge Tech. The UCD graduates were teaching the 16 students how to make a carbon fiber mold for the program’s current project — designing and building a hydrogen
POSTAL ADDRESS
WHEAT RIDGE TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 1089-9197)
OFFICE: 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210 Golden, CO 80401 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Wheat Ridge Transcript is published weekly on Thursday by Mile High Newspapers, 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210, Golden, CO 80401. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GOLDEN, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: Wheat Ridge Transcript 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210 Golden, CO 80401 DEADLINES: Display: Fri. 11 a.m. Legal: Fri. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 5 p.m. GE T SOCIAL WITH US
P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY
fuel cell car to race in the Shell Eco-marathon. “This is a great opportunity for the kinds to do hands-on engineering work,” Sprague said as the students worked on the project. “My background is in engineering, and so I wanted to start this STEM program to give students a project-based way to see what it’s like to do this work.” Sprague said that UCD and Gallagher were crucial in getting the STEM program set up at the school. “I’ve been working with Wheat Ridge and Chuck for about a decade,” Gallagher said. “How else are you going to influence the next generation of engineers without reaching them while they’re young?” Wheat Ridge’s STEM programs is one of the first in the state to be set up this way and though it was only started this fall, the robotics team it produced — run by Livingston — took fifth place in the BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) State Competition. The car students are building for the Eco-marathon is being designed and built to go the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. The international competition encourages the students to think about energy and efficiency in a practical way. According to Andrew Miller, a junior at Wheat Ridge, after all the time spent designing the vehicle, it’s exciting to start the actual building portion. “This program is all student run, from design to the building,” he said. “If we get stuck on something, it’s up to us to figure it out.” Junior Nicole Ortega and freshman Jacqueline Pedlow are both candidates for the car driver, and both spoke about the importance of the program in giving them a taste of real-world engineering. “It’s been great to work with the UCD students and pick their brains,” Ortega said.
Wheat Ridge High School students listen as a UCD graduate explains how to make the carbon fiber mold they will need for a car the class is designing. Photos by Clarke Reader “It’s been helpful to work with other students who know more than I do while still being able to contribute,” Pedlow added. The actual Eco-marathon is on April 9 in Detroit so the clock is ticking on the project, but Sprague, Livingston and Gallagher are already looking ahead. There’s a rocket program they want to look into and the TSA (Technology Student Association) competition on the horizon. “This year is our launch year and the student interest has been great,” Sprague said. “We’re the first school in Jeffco to try this and I want it to be a place where students can go who want hands on competition.” As the students worked on their second test mold of the morning, despite the weather outside, it’s clear their enthusiasm won’t be cooling any time
Students in the first Wheat Ridge High School STEM program work on making carbon fiber mold for the car they will race in the Shell Eco-marathon. soon. For more information visit
www.sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/wrhs-stem/home.
Lifeloc throws lifeline in marijuana testing Wheat Ridge company developing THC breathalyzer By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com When Amendment 64 passed many detractors voiced concerns about people driving while using marijuana and the risks that may present. Wheat Ridge’s Lifeloc Technologies aims to solve that problem by designing the first breathalyzer to detect marijuana on a person’s breath. “We watched the marijuana issue with interest and anticipated that something like this was going to be a necessity for law enforcement and others,” said Lifeloc president and CEO Barry Knott. “The problem is it’s almost impossible on the roadside to prove a driver has THC in their system.”
DRUGGED DRIVING STATS In 2013 — before recreational marijuana legalization — the Colorado Department of Transportation recorded 36 drivers involved in fatal car accidents who tested positive for the drug. Those drivers represented 5.7 percent of all fatal accident drivers. The company is getting some funding help in the form of $250,000 from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade to help develop the device. According to G. “Ravi” Ravishankar, executive vice president of Lifeloc, the trick is creating a device that detects only Delta-9 THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. “Our goal is to accelerate this and get it done quickly,” Ravishankar said. “The quandary is dealing with people who use it for medical reasons versus recreational. Our approach is that we want to
be able to detect it and then it’s up to city councils and legislatures to decide what the level of danger is.” State lawmakers passed a law stating the threshold for driving under the influence, similar to .08 blood alcohol content level, is five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. Knott said the only real way for law enforcement to test for THC currently is a blood test, but that takes a long time and is expensive. He said police are looking for a real-time, non-invasive way to test for the drug that will be supported in courts of law. Law enforcement is one of the top customers for this kind of device, but workplaces that may want to test their employees for the drug are also a potential customer base, according to Knott. “Since marijuana has been illegal for so long, there isn’t a lot of research on how it works on people’s systems,” Ravishankar said. Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana
Policy Project, said the group is in support of accurate testing for those pulled over on suspicion of driving with THC in their system. “We want to ensure that people are not driving impaired and those who are punished are proved to be impaired,” he said. The entirety of Lifeloc’s operations are in its Wheat Ridge location, and Knott and Ravishankar said that many of their 35 employees will work on the project at one point or another. At the same time they are working on the marijuana breathalyzer they’re fine tuning their alcohol breathalyzers for customers like the Wheat Ridge Police Department, Arapahoe House, and other state law enforcement offices. They also ship to 65 other countries. Lifeloc aims to have a prototype of the breathalyzer by late 2015 and a commercial version by 2016. For more information visit www.lifeloc.com.