Penn's solar car team gears up for national competition

With less than two months before the most competitive solar car race in North America, the Penn Solar Car Team is gearing up to finalize this year's solar car, "Independence." During a break in the basement of the Towne Building -- the work-site for Independence -- team members shared their excitement and anticipation with each other for next week's qualification process in Michigan. "It's really exciting to see something that you've been working on for so long come to a completion," Engineering junior Scott Saltzman said. "We're actually going to race this car that we put so much time and work into." "Sunrayce 97" -- which will take place in June -- will run 1,200 miles from Indianapolis to Colorado Springs. Next week's elimination process will test the road worthiness and safety of each team's car and will reduce the field from about 60 to 40 teams. "The race is extremely competitive," said co-team leader Ryan Crowell, an Engineering senior. "But most of the teams are interested in learning from each other. There's a cooperative feeling between teams -- we help each other out when things break and when teams need to borrow tools." The Penn Solar Car Team is an 8-year-old student-run organization. Members handle all design decisions and finances for the project -- which requires $100,000. Crowell said most funding comes from alumni. He added that members volunteer their time for personal gratification and experience, noting that the Engineering School provides little opportunity to apply classroom knowledge. "There's no other place to get this hands-on experience," added Engineering junior Dave Thompson, who has been putting 45 hours into the project the past several weekends. "It's a great project that is truly self-motivated and student-motivated." Crowell called his experience on the team unique, as the project involves many different components. "It's not just an electric project or a mechanical project or a business project," he said, adding that being on the team requires a lot of management experience. "I work with business and engineering students, companies, alumni and people with all different backgrounds," he added. Crowell said many of the team members have been working at least 40 hours a week on the car. Next week in Michigan he will be accompanied by Engineering senior Joseph Philip, Engineering junior Ric Watts and Engineering sophomore Seth Cooper. Crowell said he appreciates the time, effort and money from Sunrayce 97's three sponsors -- General Motors, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Electronic Data System. "It's a huge event to pull off, and they do a great job." noted Crowell, who added that when the starting flag falls at Sunrayce 97, Independence will be ready to fly. "We expect to win," he said. Independence will be officially unveiled to the University on Saturday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Towne Building.