The two week event will start with the FSGP on July 17 and last for three days. After a 24 hour resting period, the 14-member team will embark on the ASC; a 1,751 mile race that will start in Austin and end in Minneapolis. This year’s race will include various teams from engineering colleges across the United States, four teams from Canada, and teams from Iran, India, and Puerto Rico. The University's team has finished in fifth, sixth, and twice in eighth place in previous races.
The team is led by project manager, Bryan Harris. Harris (Senior, Mechanical Engineering) said that the purpose of the organization is to create job-ready graduates.
“For an engineering student, experience is necessary before graduating and going into any industry,” Harris said. “Sunseeker provides students with a chance to apply the knowledge they learned from classes and the experience of working on a team.”
The Sunseeker Solar Car Project is an entirely non-profit group. The time put into the project is volunteered by WMU students from across campus, and the materials and money donated to the project go directly toward producing and racing the vehicles, which must be redesigned and reconstructed every few years. Anything from marketing costs to solar cells are dependent on fundraising efforts.
“Any donations that go to Sunseeker are directly supporting student education,” Harris said.
Along with racing across the country, the Sunseeker group is also largely involved in the community. Harris said that the group goes into the community on a regular basis to talk to younger students about STEM fields and solar energy.
For anyone at home who is interested in the race, the Sunseeker group will be live tweeting throughout the event from their Twitter and updating their Facebook page regularly.
To learn more about the Sunseeker Solar Car Project or read updates from the team, please visit wmich.edu/sunseeker.
Make a tax-deductible donation to the Sunseeker team by visiting MyWMU.com/sunseeker.
Posted by Stan Sulewski