Chicagoland Teen Girls Race Their Fridge Cars Across the Finish Line at Annual ComEd Icebox Derby Competition
30 Chicago area STEM stars showcase their skills in race emceed by singing celebrities Chloe x Halle
CHICAGO (August 13, 2017) – For the last three weeks, 30 young women from across the Chicagoland area worked together with ComEd mentors to transform old refrigerators from ComEd's recycling program into solar-powered, electric race cars. The culmination of their work came on August 12 as six teams of five girls raced their newly transformed fridge cars around the Picasso at the Daley Center to win the Icebox Derby STEM Cup and other prizes. Following a tight and exciting race, Orange Flare emerged as the winners and they were awarded the STEM Cup.
Launched in 2014, ComEd's Icebox Derby is designed to educate and empower young women to explore opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Data from the National Girls Collaborative project shows that while women earn more than half of bachelor's degrees awarded in the biological sciences, they earn far fewer in the computer sciences, engineering, physics, and mathematics and statistics.
"We developed the Icebox Derby to expose young women to a unique STEM experience and learn from ComEd mentors about their journey to a STEM-focused career" said Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of ComEd. "Working together, they've done amazing work to prepare for the Icebox Derby race. We're hoping that these young women will be inspired by this experience, the work of their mentors and team members and continue on a STEM pathway, and one day come back to work for ComEd. They are our workforce of the future."
More than 230 girls applied online to join the 2017 IBD program, now in its fourth year. Each Icebox Derby contestant will receive a $2500 scholarship for completing the program and the first place 2017 winners in will receive a laptop/notebook.
Chloe x Halle, sisters and an R&B duo recently signed to Beyonce's record label, served as the emcees of the event. Attendees of the Icebox Derby Race Day event included ComEd's CEO and President Anne Pramaggiore, along with several other ComEd executives and Icebox Derby team mentors, local business and community leaders and elected officials, as well as an audience of contestants' family and friends and the general public.
Icebox Derby cars are made of old refrigerators from ComEd's Fridge and Freezers Recycling program. Old refrigerators can consume as much as four times more energy than newer models and could cost up to $150 a year in electricity. ComEd's Fridge and Freezer Recycling program will pick up customers old, working fridge or freezer for FREE, recycle it in an environmentally responsible way, plus send the customer a check for $50. More than 339,000 refrigerators and freezers have been recycled through this program. For more information about ComEd's fridge recycling program, please visit www.comed.com/WaysToSave.
​If you missed the Icebox Derby race, you can relive the excitement and find out more about the program by visiting www.iceboxderby.com. Followers can also track the Icebox Derby journey on social media by searching hashtag #IceboxDerby2017.