Hello! It has been roughly two months since our last update and I’m sure you are curious as to what has happened in the meantime. It is my great pleasure to fill you all in!
Starting with the biggest news, CalSol is attending the American Solar Challenge this summer! We will be raycing against a number of other solar vehicle teams from around the world in two different events. The first, called the Formula Sun Grand Prix, is a track race for all of the teams attending. The second event is the American Solar Challenge itself, in which a smaller number of teams will participate. This rayce will see CalSol from Rochester, New York to St. Paul, Minnesota.
When we last wrote, Impulse had just finished its journey home to the safety and comfort of the Richmond Field Station here in Berkeley, California. The members of the World Solar Challenge team had scattered across the globe to take some well deserved R&R. I can personally tell you that it was a successful rejuvenation! After seeing some of the pictures come back from the globetrotters of CalSol, it would be hard to believe that our team isn’t full to the brim and ready to dive right back into things. So dive back in we did.
Of course with the end of the World Solar Challenge, CalSol was ready to change out of our favorite wetsuit and usher in some new members. This is a university team and as much as some people would like to differ, (looking at you Ed) our senior members won’t be around for much longer. So it is with great pleasure that I announce the new leadership of CalSol! First off, the new Team Lead is Michael Vogel, a second year Electrical Engineering and Engineering and Computer Science student who you may recognize from this and several other blog posts, in addition to a large amount of the photography coming out of Australia and CalSol. Taking charge of the relatively new position of Project Manager is Nicole Schauser. Nicole is a second year Materials Science and Engineering student who was prominently featured as one of the four driver’s of Impulse in Australia, and as the team’s Safety Officer. The Electrical Lead, who you may recognize from past semesters, is Steven Rhodes. He has been Electrical Lead for the past year, with the exception of a hiatus to rayce in Australia! He is the one to thank for the leadership of the electrical systems leading up to the World Solar Challenge. The new Mechanical Lead is Amando Miller. A fourth year Mechanical Engineering student, Amando has previously been in charge of the team’s suspension and chassis, and has put too many hours to count into machining parts for those systems. Katherine Liu, last but definitely not least, is the continuing Business Lead. A second year Economics student, Katherine has been leading the business team to great success for the past semester and we are excited to have her back for the lead up to the American Solar Challenge.
You will definitely be hearing more from me as we move nearer to the American Solar Challenge. In addition, I’m delighted to say that you’ll see us again this year at Engineering for Kids, Cal Day, and Maker Faire!
Thanks for reading!