EDWARDSVILLE - The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering’s Solar Car Team had its best showing yet in the 2018 Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and American Solar Challenge (ASC) this summer. Twenty-four teams participated in the annual FSGP beginning July 6, and then the qualifying teams raced in the biannual ASC from Omaha, Nebraska to Bend, Oregon from July 14-22, covering 1,700 miles.

The competitions involve three phases:

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Scrutineering: The competing teams underwent a three-day sequence of testing in Hastings, Nebraska to assure the car was electrically and mechanically safe to drive on the track and the road. Teams fail scrutineering if a problem cannot be fixed within the three-day time frame.

FSGP Qualifier: Cars commence laps on a closed track. In order to qualify for the road competition, each car had to make 97 laps around the track in one day or 145 laps in two consecutive days.

ASC Road race: Cars began the road race from Omaha to Bend, competing for shortest time between daily checkpoints and stage stops. The preplanned route integrates the solar cars into regular traffic.

“The last time the SIUE team qualified for the cross-country trip was 2005,” said Andy Lozowski, PhD, solar team advisor and chair of the SIUE Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We didn’t quite make the required laps in the FSGP qualifier this year. However, we received provisional qualification for the road event upon the condition of covering the first stage of the road race on time. We made only 243 miles out of the required 491 miles, and we ran out of power because of a lack of sunshine. So, it ended our participation after the first two days.”

“Both our team and the ASC officials knew that our lithium-ion batteries were old,” Lozowski explained. “Old batteries fail to reliably hold a charge. Our car’s only issue was the battery cells. We did not give up until the last electron was used. The official observer, riding in our chase vehicles, made a note of that in his report. Nevertheless, we had to end our competitive participation in ASC. The ASC officials praised our team for driving the car down to the very last bit of charge, recognizing the sound engineering of the car.”

SIUE received an unexpected surprise when ASC officials extended an invitation to continue with the race as a demonstration vehicle. “We were allowed to arrive at every checkpoint and stage stop, and display our car,” Lozowski said. “SIUE’s logo was present at all the stage cities, available to the media and general public taking pictures and video.”

Since 2005, SIUE participated in the FSGP annual track races but didn’t compete in the ASC road races, because each year the car wasn’t technically viable enough to qualify. The road race is extremely challenging, because the car must be sturdy and sound enough to handle many miles of travel. Annually, SIUE concentrated on FSGP with the goal of attaining a ranked position, which was accomplished by placing 10th overall in 2017. The quality of the car increased every year, becoming more stable and durable.

Senior Triston Cooper, of Lincoln, who concluded his tenure as the team director with this competition, led the 11-member team. Sophomore Sydney Stogner, of Shiloh, was one of the drivers and will serve as the new team director starting this month. Three team members were drivers and provided mechanical support: sophomore Chris Oliva, of Edwardsville, junior Mico Agustin, of Edwardsville, and junior Mark Naleway, of Bloomington, who becomes mechanical director this month.

Senior Jim Banner, of Edwardsville, managed mechanical systems. Sophomore Peter Royer, of Maryland Heights, provided mechanical refabricating of broken parts. Freshman Trent Mette, of Teutopolis, provided telemetry and was proficient in slipping the trailer out of tight spaces. Junior Jon Doucette, of O’Fallon, provided both electrical and mechanical support and becomes assistant project director this month. Junior Antonio Pizzarro, of Edwardsville, also provided telemetry. Junior Dan Morrissey, of Alton, managed lighting systems and assumes the electrical director role this month.

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Stogner noted that the solar car race is more than just a competition, “It’s a race that brings many people together from all over the world, as we all cheer and help each other.”

“At a lot of the stops, we talked to SIUE alumni who were so proud of us and cheered us on,” Stogner said. “Talking to wide-eyed kids asking us about the ‘space ship’ was fantastic. One child told us that to make our car better, we needed more dinosaurs! We made note of that.”

Lozowski described the event as a great experience for students. “Students craft new ideas and solutions to problems, while interacting with the public,” he said. “They realize that organization of the team, especially involving other academic majors (business, marketing, mass media and geography), is essential to success in ASC.

“Also motivation is the key. Our students see they are no less talented than the teams competing from the other most prestigious universities and believe that we can get to the same level in a few years. Our team history shows continuous improvement.”

Lozowski pointed to many other benefits from participating, such as establishing personal relationships. “I was able to spend an hour with the leader of the University of Michigan team that consistently wins,” he said. “He described their team organization, their solar car-related courses, and the way they design and build the car.

“I talked with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) faculty, who expressed some ideas as to how MIT and SIUE could collaborate to build a research component around our SIUE car, making it more appealing when raising funds for the car.”

Lozowski took pride in his team’s toughness. “Our students got soaked in the mountain rain one night in Lander, Wyoming, and it was a freezing cold night” he noted. “But in the morning, they were back demonstrating the car, while their uniform shirts were steaming from the morning sun on their backs. They are tough as can be.”

The track race crew included sophomore Landon Skelly, of Chatham, who worked on mechanical, and senior Emmery Mammen, of Lincoln, was the mechanical director. Alumni Brittany Riddle, of Troy, served as safety officer, and Matthew McQueen, of Huntley, handled timing and statistics. Dave Holderman, Dan Hauer and Zachary Crawford were advisors who also traveled to Nebraska.

Steve Muren, another long-time advisor, was unable to travel with the team this year. “I’m very proud of this team and what they accomplished this year!” he said. “They worked extremely hard and were dedicated to realizing the best results ever for the team.

“The team is excited and ready to start preparing for the FSGP 2019 next summer. Changes in the regulations will require the team to design and build a new car. I’ve already spoken with Syd, and we will be meeting this week to start planning.”

The SIUE School of Engineering offers one of the most comprehensive and affordable engineering programs in the St. Louis region with eight undergraduate degrees, five master’s degrees and a cooperative doctoral program. Students learn from expert faculty, perform cutting-edge research, and participate in intercollegiate design competitions. Companies in the metropolitan St. Louis area provide students challenging internships and co-op opportunities, which often turn into permanent employment. Students gain hands-on experience in the School’s state-of-the-art facilities, including the new Student Design Center.

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