San Jose
Mercury News
High
school soap-box-derby team plugs in to Dr. Technology’s
wizardry
by Mike Cassidy
So they’ve selected the Jamaican bob
sled team –perennial losers- as their role models.
So their key athlete’s training
regimen consists of this: "I get up and run in the
morning maybe three or four blocks. That’s it."
So they’re a late entry in
the Sand Hill Challenge.
So what. They’ve go Dr. Technology,
a wizard at this sort of thing, who is, well worried.
"We’re way behind,"
he said recently while looking at a one-wheeled welded frame
that eventually will be a race entry.
Some background: The Sand
Hill Challenge is billed as a soap box derby like no other.
Buck’s restaurant owner Jamis MacNiven conceived a race
featuring cars by Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists and
companies. Since the idea was to raise money to combat teenage
drinking, he added a high school division.
Which is how Dominic Bannister,
16; Thomas Gomez, 14; and Benjamin Carson; 14, high school
students who work at Plugged In in East Palo Alto, came
to be in Dr. Technology’s garage.
"There is no point
in coming in second," said Thomas, the guy with the
three-block regimen. He’ll push the car the first 50 feet
of Sunday’s race. Then, it’s all gravity and Dominic behind
the wheel.
Dominic became the driver
by missing the organizing meeting.
"We decided it’s aluminum
and it could crash and it could cut us in half, " Thomas
explained.
But the race isn’t about
fear. It’s about winning. The adult teams are spending thousands
and employing race car and speed boat designers. The teenagers
have considered that similar efforts could be going on in
the high school division. But they’ve got Dr. Technology.
|
|
| Thomas
Gomez, 14 and Dominic Bannister, 16 weld the car they
plan to enter in the Sanhill Challenge under the supervision
of Dr. Technology, a.k.a Jan Krieg. |
The doctor, also called
Jan Krieg, runs a dental lab and says he’s a mad scientist
on the side. His claim to fame is a space-age miniature
car he drives around Palo Alto, drawing stares and occasional
calls for help.
In fact, Krieg was in his
tiny car when he was spotted by Magda Escobar, development
director for Plugged In,
a nonprofit that provides computer access for low-income
people. She knew the boys needed help. Big help. She cornered
Krieg.
"He looked like he
had experience," she said. The Plugged In team better
hope so.
