There has been a lot of reorganizing in the past year, but things are starting to fall into place around the garage. For the past year the team has been in a state of waiting—the North American Solar Challenge was postponed due to funding difficulties, and there were no regulations to speak of. This past September, team members traveled to Topeka, Kansas to discuss the next rayce and new regulations. The “What’s Next” meeting helped pound out some rough details of the rayce, and gave us something to look forward to. In January, race officials finally released preliminary rayce regulations, and it was time to get to work! Our teams have been rushing to get design work done on an accelerated timetable. It is a daunting task, but we will be raycing with the sun in the Summer of 2008! The team has been keeping busy for the past year with outreach events, testing, and sprucing up our workspace. We have repainted the garage floor in black and white checkers, cleaned out the front office and rearranged (a task that was much overdue), and sent PrISUm Spectrum to the Science Center of Iowa for display. We also recently purchased a new trailer for our car! This summer, the team plans to tour Iowa once again for an event called ‘SunRun.’ The team will drive Fusion, our eighth solar car, around Iowa, visiting schools and other venues to showcase our project, and get the word out about renewable energy! This event is also a good opportunity to practice driving a solar car in an environment similar to that of NASC.

Pulled from the 2007 SunDial article written by former project director Sarah Kelly