High schoolers working on solar-powered watercraft

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Imagine zipping around the lake on a personal watercraft that causes no pollution and costs no money in gas. Some high school students are working on it.

Scott Watson's classroom at Hunter High School looks like a marina, with Kawasakis, a jet ski, a SeaDoo and a Yamaha in various stages of conversion. "We are making these all electric powered," he explained.

The goal is to have the vessels reach and keep planing speed, powered only by a solar panel.

Watson is an electronics instructor and leads the invent team of 20 or so students at the school. "This gives them a chance while they are in high school to work on something that they probably wouldn't even have a chance to until they graduate college," Watson said.

The team won a prestigious grant from MIT for $8,000. They plan to present their invention at MIT next June. Before that, they'd love to take the governor out for a spin on the lake.

E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com