UC Berkeley Engineering Organization Wins Grand Prize in Zipcar Grant Program

UC Berkeley's student engineering organization, Pioneers in Engineering, was recently announced as the grand prize winners of Zipcar and Ford Motor Company's “Students with Drive” grant program which includes $25,000.

Pioneers in Engineering at UC Berkeley is a student run group that aims to encourage the study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in underprivileged high schools in the Bay Area. 

Educational values are promoted by members of the group through a year-round mentorship program called PiE Prep, and through an exciting 8-week robotics competition. The goal of the program is for UC Berkeley students to inspire Bay Area high school students to pursue STEM in higher education. 

As “Students with Drive” grand prize winners, UC Berkeley’s Pioneers in Engineering received $5,000 in Zipcar credits to be used for Zipcar memberships and driving in Zipcars, $10,000 for to put toward their cause and $10,000 to be awarded to UC Berkeley. 

Pioneers in Engineering surpassed 34 other student organizations recognized by “Students with Drive” this past year in order to claim the grand prize honor for 2013. The group plans to use the grant money to help mentors visit local high schools more frequently to mentor students and help students build their robots.

For the 2012-2013 academic school year, the “Students with Drive” grant program received more than 540 submissions from student organizations at nearly 180 colleges and universities. The competition received over 44,000 votes from students trying to help their school’s organization win.

More information about the program can be found by visiting the “Students with Drive” tab on Zipcar’s University Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ZipcarU.

To learn more about Pioneers in Engineering, visit their Facebook page.