september 2008 Issue
University News
Spirited Crowd Welcomes Home Solar Racecar
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BLUR-BY |
Fuelled by sunshine and Calgary spirit, 15 solar-powered vehicles cruised to the conclusion of the 2008 North American Solar Challenge, July 22. Thousands of spectators lined the city’s streets and gathered at the finish line at the University of Calgary to greet the cars — including the U of C’s own Schulich 1.
The team representing the Schulich School of Engineering and the university placed sixth overall in the competition, which began July 13 from Plano, Tex. Schulich 1 crossed the line seventh in the final stage.
“We are just overwhelmed by the number of people who came out to cheer for us and welcome us back home,” said U of C Solar Team operations manager Darshni Pillay, a university student member of APEGGA “This entire race has been a truly amazing experience and we’d like to thank everyone who has supported us and followed us along this adventure.”
The solar cars left Plano on July 13. For the final stage of the 4,000-km race, they pulled out of the Family Leisure Centre in Medicine Hat at 9 a.m. All of the teams ran their vehicles hard, to as close to highway speed as possible — the end was near and there was no more need to conserve power for another day of racing.
The first-place vehicle, the University of Michigan’s Continuum, crossed the finish line at 1:19 p.m., followed by Waterloo University at 1:47 and Germany’s FH Bochum car at 2:06. Then came the University of Minnesota entry at 2:15, Principia College at 2:20 and Queen’s University at 2:28.
To a roar of applause from an estimated 10,000 people at the finish line, U of C’s Schulich 1 crossed next. Team members jogged alongside as the car ended its journey at 2:33.
“It was so exciting to be able to drive the car back home today,” said driver Tiffany Veltman, a university student member of APEGGA. “There were crowds of people cheering and waving the whole way, and I just kept wanting to drive the car faster and faster!”
After celebrations for all teams and a wrap-up dinner at the Calgary Zoo the next evening, the U of C Solar Team planned to take a well-deserved rest — before getting set to design and build its third car.
“We’re bringing home many lessons from this year’s race that will help us immensely as we move forward into the third generation of our car,” Ms. Pillay said. “The next North American Solar Challenge is only two years away, so we have a lot of work ahead of us as our team continues to improve and become more competitive.”
The 2008 version of the event was not without drama for the Calgary team. For example, Schulich 1 pulled into the second stage stop in Sioux Falls, S.D., with just minutes to spare, after a stint that saw the car cover almost 500 kilometres.
The day got off to a slow start because of cloud cover. The U of C team conserved battery power by holding the car to a modest speed of 50 km/h as it left Kansas. The clouds cleared midway through Nebraska, however, and the team was able to pick up its pace to 90 km/h for the rest of the day.
As the Calgary car entered South Dakota, things looked good — although the clock was ticking ever closer to the 6:30 p.m. cut-off. Then the team lost 20 minutes by taking a wrong turn.
“By the time we figured out we were on the wrong road, we had gone about six miles, so we had to turn around and go back to where we left the race route,” Ms. Veltman said.
Solar team members were exhausted but elated after the 10-hour run. “I kept checking my watch and just hoping we were going to make it on time,” said Ms. Veltman, who’d driven Schulich 1 for close to six hours.