WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University M-STEM³ program has tapped Top Kart USA as the official electric vehicle chassis supplier for the program.

Danny White, director of motorsports at Purdue, said the partnership will benefit M-STEM³ (Motorsports STEM for Manufacturing and Medicine) as it prepares to go national. The motorsports program at Purdue hosts the evGrand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.

“This program has been gaining interest and momentum as more high schools begin to see the value and excitement of offering a unique teaching aid," he said. "I am very vested in the success of this program, and when I went looking for a partner to help us build the program I was looking for a similar company that shared my passion about this product. After my initial meeting with Top Kart it was evident we had a match. Purdue will be Top Kart's exclusive engineering and technology academic partner.”

The M-STEM³ modules focus on motorsports as the context for teaching important 21^st-century skills and content knowledge using problem-based learning. Students will work in teams to solve a challenge or develop a solution to a given problem.

Top Kart USA, located in Indianapolis, is the North American distributor for the Top Kart brand. Top Kart USA works closely with the Italian chassis maker to help develop and improve the chassis line for the North American market.

“This partnership with Purdue is very exciting for us and the direction we want our company to head in the coming years,” said Bill McLaughlin Sr., business development manager for Top Kart. “Developing a purpose-built chassis for the electric vehicle market allows us to tap into a vast new market. Within our own state there are over 1,500 public and private high school systems that we would like to introduce the Purdue M-STEM³ program to. We have begun to establish relationships in Europe that will be essential in bringing the program to the world as well.”

The Purdue Motorsports M-STEM³ program is an education initiative designed to spark students' interest in STEM fields by taking advantage of Purdue's location near Indianapolis, the "Racing Capital of the World." 

For more information about being involved with Purdue MSTEM³ and Top Kart call 317-870-3122 or email info@topkartusa.net or contact White at white66@purdue.edu. 

Sources: Danny White, director of motorsports at Purdue, white66@purdue.edu 

Bill McLaughlin, Top Kart USA, bill@mkpshop.com