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MSU SRT 2018-19 School Year Updates

With school back in full swing, MSU solar is back working on our new vehicle. After much deliberation we have decided to go with Aurora, named after the Ancient Roman Goddess of Dawn. Aurora is a cruiser class vehicle with a much sleeker and more practical design than Leonidas, with over double the capacity in the battery pack. We should have the full body and array ready around the beginning of the spring semester and she should be entirely operational by the end of the school year and ready to compete in the FSGP this coming summer.

As the new year begins, we would like to welcome all of our new members to the team as well as thank those who have moved on from Michigan State, including Vice President/Mechanical Team Lead Aaron Feinauer. With his departure, Gregory Stark, former Electrical Team Lead has taken full control as President and relinquished the title of Electrical Team Lead. An election was held and Lauren Chance and Shubham Shedge will be the Mechanical and Electrical Team leads for the 2018-19 year, respectively.

Both of the new leads gave a short statement about their reactions to becoming team leads and their hopes for this coming year:

Lauren:

“I was really flattered to be nominated for the mechanical team lead, but to be given the position is such an honor. I know the role is going to require even more time and energy but I’m happy to give it. I’m pumped to give up that last sliver of my social life that is left and dedicate it to the Solar Racing Team. I care a lot about the success of this team and I look forward to seeing what we are capable of as we come to the end of the design phase of our two-seater car, Aurora, and are starting production. There’s a lot to get done and I’m excited to get to know other members of the team better over the next few months that I didn’t work with as much last year, as I spent a lot of my time with my sub-team (shout-out to the chassis team!).

I hope to inspire new members that join the team to stick with it and get as much out of it as I have. There’s so much experience to gain and cool people to meet; I want to make members feel comfortable to come to me with whatever and I truly just want to do right by the team; I have some major shoes to fill after our last mechanical team lead! That being said, I am so honored to take on the role and all its responsibilities and am so excited for the year to come. Go green!”

Shubham:

“The thrill of being a part of a huge project that is fueled by the passion and commitment with my fellow peers has already made me excited ever since I joined the team as a young freshman. As newly elected Electrical Team Lead, I only have one main goal ahead of me: to get this new project car finished and running for the summer competition in 2019. With a completely new and innovated battery pack, optimized design for a battery management system, sleek and efficient solar array design, accurate telemetry system, and state-of-the-art driver controls system and experience, the upcoming car’s electrical systems will keep our team on the level if not higher than our competitors come 2019. I am excited to see what the 2018-2019 school year has to offer and the final result of everyone’s hard work.”

Shubham and Lauren in Nebraska for the Formula Sun Grand Prix in 2018

Congratulations to both of these fantastic and dedicated members! We look forward to a strong 2018-19 year!

MSU SRT E-Week

During the week of February 18^th – 24^th the Solar Racing Team was able to participate in several events through the College of Engineering’s E-week. SRT members were there for Introduce a Girl to Engineering, Science Night, Spartan 300, Impression 5, and the Engineering Expo. At these events the team was able to interact with an audience ranging from elementary to college students. Sponsors for the events include Ingersoll Rand, General Motors and General Electric.

As the MSU College of Engineering describes it, E-week intends to provide “students with dynamic career networking opportunities, while introducing young people to the potential of engineering as a career.” MSU SRT aligns with this viewpoint and throughout E-week collaborated with other Engineering groups on campus while looking to instill wonder in students about the growing potential of solar energy and solar racing.

“It was great to talk with students of all ages about the team and the scientific principles behind what powers the solar car. Our goal as a team is that, as a result of this week, more students are aware of the MSU Solar Racing Team and may in the future look into joining.” – Alex Konopka

The SRT’s main interactive event of E-week was a miniature solar car racing contest with the students. Attendants each had a mini solar car and a flashlight and would use the energy from the flashlight – converted by the solar panel into mechanical energy – to race their cars down the hallway similar to the process of how the full-size car looks to convert incoming light into motion.

MSU Solar Racing Team extends a large thank you to the College of Engineering and all the other sponsors, the members of our team who volunteered, and the volunteers from any group who came together to make a dynamic and educational E-week.

MSU SRT at the Auto Show

MSU SRT was given the honor of displaying Leonidas at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit over the past two weeks. It was an exciting opportunity and everyone who participated had a wonderful time.

Mechanical Team member Dan Farat said, “The majority of people at the Auto Show have not seen a solar car in person before, so it was exciting to connect with the public and share details of our vehicle with them.”

“Being at the Auto Show is a great thing for our team for many reasons. For a lot of our new members, it’s the first chance they get to show off the car to their families and friends, and I love seeing how proud they are to talk to people about our team,” said President Greg Stark. “There is also the obvious benefit of the huge amount of exposure the team gets at such a large event.  There were thousands of visitors that saw the car that week, and many of them represented either our current sponsors or potential new sponsors. Overall, it is always a great way to further our mission of promoting STEM education and the potential of electric vehicle technology.”

MSU SRT would like to thank all of our sponsors, as well Automobili-D and everyone at the NAIAS who helped make our experience one to remember!

We’re Back!

MSU Solar is back and better than ever!  With a fresh leadership team in place (Greg Stark: Electrical Team Lead, Aaron Feinauer: Mechanical Team Lead, and Michael Mazza: Business Team Lead), our team has swelled to around 60 members and enthusiasm for the project is at an all time high. This influx of fresh faces and enthusiasm has prompted some changes for the team. We have a new name, a new logo and most importantly, we’re beginning a new car! We are now MSU Solar Racing Team, or MSU SRT for short.

MSU SRT is full of new faces and fortunate to have the experience and expertise of its returning members. We are more equipped than ever before to build a successful, race-worthy vehicle.

So what have we been doing these past 10 months? First and foremost, over the summer we competed in the Formula Sun Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

In Austin,  the team fought against incredible adversity as our Tritium Battery Management System and Driver Controls system both failed unexpectedly. Through the hard work and extreme dedication of the Electrical team, we were able to repair a spare BMS with parts from the failed system, and create an entirely new Driver Controls system with an Arduino. This concluded with the triumph of passing scrutineering with 10 minutes left in the event, and taking Leonidas on his first ever lap around the Circuit of the Americas racetrack. While this is not the outcome we had in mind, it was a crucial step in the right direction for our team, and it allowed us to bring back a core group of experienced members that have become the backbone of this year’s team.

And what’s ahead? With a new lead for almost all sub-teams and a stronger collective team than ever before, we are poised and ready to start our next car to replace Leonidas.  The new designs are already well underway. Stay tuned for the next blog post where we are excited to announce some details about our new project!