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lex Cook prides himself on finding solutions to school bus transportation safety challenges. As school bus electrification el-
evated on the horizon, Cook embraced the opportunity to engineer a flexible, quickly deployable and purpose-built, behind-the-meter school bus charging infrastructure solution for his employer First Student, as North America’s largest school bus contractor embarked on the industry’s largest deployment project. For that and other solutions, Cook,
the chief engineer for First Student, is the inaugural recipient of the Innovator Award, sponsored by School Trans- portation News in partnership with the National School Transportation Asso- ciation. Cook was nominated by Todd Hawkins, First Student’s senior vice president of maintenance. Cook and his team’s scalable, cost-
Alex Cook, the chief engineer for First Student, at last month’s STN EXPO Indianapolis, where he spoke on a panel about school bus electrification and the lessons being learned by North America’s largest student transportation contractor.
effective battery infrastructure design accommodates First Student’s needs while being applicable to the entire school bus industry. The design utilizes common, readily accessible components as a foundation for equipment positioning and mounting and protection of high voltage circuits. Described as a “building block system,” the scalable infrastructure to charge electric bus batteries is man- ufactured off site, shipped on flatbed trailers to the location, offloaded, and ready for duty within hours. Cook also has engineered and
brought to the marketplace real-time front-axle load monitoring and man- agement, overhead structure safety
restraint system development, and high-energy battery protection system devices. He said he is cognizant that despite
its benefits, there is much uneasiness about the electrification of school buses, due in part to thermal events leading to fires. Higher voltages, higher potential energies, and more conduc- tors running in the bus underscores a greater risk analysis, he noted. “As we start to continue to build,
understand, accommodate and apply, we’re growing so much so quickly,” Cook said. “It’s truly exciting. But there are little nuances we’ve learned as we go.” One such nuance is the need for
flexibility. That was amplified during a recent visit to a Missouri school district customer, where Cook noted a growing local population will necessitate a larger school system with changing needs regarding technology. “How do we future-proof that today
to make it resilient enough, that with relative ease, they can modify it without a bunch of additional costs, tear up or effort, to accommodate how they ebb and flow in their operational needs,” Cook observed. Supply chain delays are another
concern. Cook and his team have dealt with delays ranging from 40 to 90 weeks on such parts as meters, switch gear, transformers and conduit. That adds to the significance of battery in- frastructure componentry being easily accessible, modifiable and movable, he added.
Award Criteria STN selected Alex Cook out of 18 online nominations submitted by readers this spring. To be considered for the award, individuals must work for a bus contractor company. The nominations were also judged based on “significant, tangible con- tributions to the industry within the past year.” Innovations could be technological, operational, safety-related, or related to adopting green energy.
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