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Kyle Bergene

Emily Auman

RC2001

April 17, 2020

Personal Statement

Sustainable technology is paramount for the future of our civilization. As a society we

must live in conjunction with our environment. I have held this belief close to my heart. A fond

memory of mine would be when I confronted my neighbor for wasting too much water on her

flower beds. She refused to turn her water off, so my friends and I went on our way and played

for an hour. When we were finished, we noticed the water was still on, so I went over and turned

off her water. Overall, my conviction manifested in a capstone project at my community college.

For this project I built a solar powered car which demonstrated my passion and understanding of

sustainable technology.

In my free time I enjoy riding bikes and motorcycles. These hobbies exercise my

curiosity for the inner workings of mechanics while allowing me to build endurance. When I

moved to Boone, I sold my beloved motorcycle, but my bike remains a favorite mode of

transportation. In order to study my passion, I had to give up something I loved, yet I weighed

my desire to study sustainable technology as the onus that would take me to a new chapter in my

life. Overall it is clear that I have a bright future in sustainable technology.

Growing up I was the youngest of three siblings, two older sisters. The oldest was very

girly and was a cheerleader, my other sister followed in her footsteps but ended up enjoying the

inside and books more. My sisters had a hot pink electric Barbie Jeep that they drove around the

yard in. One day I decided I wanted to drive, and I was maybe four at the time. My mother
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agreed and that first time driving it, I was already better than my middle sister who was two

years older than me. I’ve always had interest in cars and motorcycles for as long as I can

remember. First motorcycle experience was when I went to my sister’s orthodontist. Her doctor

came to work on this beautiful black Harley-Davidson. Seeing him on the bike I thought that was

really cool. I finally got my first motorcycle my junior year of high school. Throughout middle

school and high school I helped my father work on our family’s vehicles. It was great learning

about the mechanics of vehicles at such a young age. I even helped my neighbor build a go kart

in 6th grade. After completing the build, we rode it around the neighborhood for fun. A week or

so after that, fun was eventually halted one day when the cops showed up. We had a chat with

them, and the officers realized we weren’t harming anyone and respecting the rules of the road.

We concluded that our nosey neighbor whom I turned her water off had called them.

Given my passion for anything with wheels, the solar powered car capstone was a great

fit. Building it was a feat, two other sustainable students and I were thrown in amongst

engineering students. They had designed their cars the previous semester and were ready to

build. My partners and I knew very little about designing a vehicle from scratch. We created a

deadline and researched how to build a solar car. Wading into the unknown, we started to

fabricate the frame and eventually had a chassis driving under battery power. We then built a

foam body around it and cut up some solar panels to place on that then wired it all together. First

test was a success, the batteries were being charged by the solar panels while we were driving.

All the capstone projects for my graduation year got together and we represented our

school at a popular Earth Day event at a local park. Many people came to our booth curious

about what everything was and how it worked. A tiny house, solar panels, handheld wind

turbines and solar panels, solar powered car, and a truck bed camper were displayed. People of
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all ages were curious and I along with other students showed them all the projects and taught

them a few things. My favorite part of the project was going to an elementary school with the car

to show all the students. My professor and I brought handheld solar panels and taught the

students how solar power works. They were so excited to learn about it and look at the car, I took

the body off the frame to show the mechanics of it. They were most excited to see it drive around

the parking lot though.