The Birmingham Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) hosted a hackathon at Ramsay High School this month. The event, supported by Alabama Power employees, offered students a real-world learning opportunity, exposure to energy professionals and company leadership, and career development.

Four teams competed to find a solution to a real-world scenario around electric vehicles. They were tasked with creating a campaign pitch to raise public awareness and increase usage of EVs in Birmingham, with consideration to existing gasoline vehicles, costs of EVs and current infrastructure.

“This hackathon was special because it challenged our students to think outside of the box and research a topic that many may have only had casual knowledge about beforehand,” said Jason Watters, Alabama Power Workforce Development coordinator. “The electric vehicle ecosystem will continue to grow in Alabama, and now these students know that they can be a part of that post high school and college.”

“It’s hard to become what you don’t see. Therefore, it’s important for AABE that we have a presence in our communities with these current students who will at some point become our future leaders,” Watters said.

Students attend a hackathon at Ramsay High School that focused on electric vehicles and offered learning opportunities, career development and access to energy professionals. The host for the event was the Birmingham Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE). (contributed)

Teams of students at the AABE hackathon at Ramsay High School compete in creating campaigns that will increase the use of electric vehicles in Birmingham. (contributed)

The AABE hackathon at Ramsay High School gave students access to energy professionals. (contributed)

Among the Alabama Power employees who supported the event was Justin Harrison, manager, Power Delivery Central Engineering, who brought a plug-in electric truck for the students to examine.

Deidre Garrett, a cyber security manager for Alabama Power sister company Southern Nuclear and AABE Birmingham Chapter vice president, and David Kimani, an AABE chapter member and Alabama Power data analyst, were among the event judges. Jonathan Porter, Alabama Power senior vice president for Customer Operations, addressed the students during the event.

AABE works throughout the year to encourage African American students to pursue careers in energy-related fields and to provide scholarships and other financial aid for such students. Learn more about AABE here. Learn more about the Birmingham Chapter here.