FSGP Scrutineering Success

All the green stickers have aligned- CalSol has completed each section of scrutineering and will be excitedly moving onto the Circuit of the Americas (CotA) track tomorrow! The three days of Scrutineering progressed smoothly with minor fixes to Zephyr, including some items such as re-securing our emergency stop button and adjusting the angle on our front headlights.

CalSol is represented by a team of 22 members. They have been diligently working through the heat in Austin, Texas to get us through scrutineering. We have had a Formula 1 garage bay to work in as we prepare for the track.  Along the way, we’ve made improvements to Zephyr, increased our knowledge of different aspects of the solar car, and most importantly- had fun along the way.

Members share some of their favorite parts about the scrutineering process:

• “I have loved the opportunity to learn about details on different aspects of vehicles from the organizers during inspections. During Mechanical Scrutineering, our inspector explained how different qualities of stitching on a seat belt correlates to different G forces drivers experience. We will definitely take small details like these to guide the design of our next car!” -Alyssa Scheske, Operations Director
• “It’s been awesome sharing this world class facility with professionals. Nissan has been using the track the past few days and it’s been really cool to watch their vehicle wiz by in the hot lanes from the garage!” – Chris Berthelet, Driver Interface
• “I think that the sharing culture between the teams has been amazing. Every team is willing to lend materials and thoughts to get their compeitiors through scruintneering. Everyone is really genuine- the solar car community is a small niche of some of the smartest and kindest people around.” – Neeka Mashouf, Driver and Battery Engineer
• “Team bonding!!! Meals have been so tasty, they are a great way to relax with the team.” – Nour Eldifrawy, Safety Officer

#FSGP2015 starts tomorrow and CalSol could not be more excited or more ready. Keep posted on our social media pages for updates as FSGP goes on!