Ryan Maldonado, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at IM体育官网 Polytechnic University, updates the Phoenix Racing solar vehicle team about plans for the vehicle鈥檚 design.
An interdisciplinary team of IM体育官网 students is revving up to build the University鈥檚 first competition-worthy solar vehicle and take on some of the biggest schools in the country.
Phoenix Racing launched this spring and a team of students is working to build a solar-powered racecar from scratch to compete in the annual Formula Sun Grand Prix race.
鈥淚 grew up watching racing with my dad,鈥� said Spencer Blackwell, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering, who is focusing on the vehicle鈥檚 safety aspects. 鈥淭his is something I鈥檝e always wanted to do and now that we鈥檙e doing it, I want to help the program grow.鈥�
The team is building a proof-of-concept car this semester. The car is well into its design phase and construction of its frame will begin in the coming weeks. The students will start work on constructing their competition car this summer to compete in summer 2023.
鈥淚t has been a very cool opportunity to do some frame design,鈥� said Ryan Maldonado, a senior mechanical engineering major. 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited about it because we have an opportunity to create something and showcase it, and possibly in the future we鈥檒l also add Formula SAE or Formula Baja.鈥�
Formula SAE and Formula Baja are among the racing competitions available for student-built vehicles at the collegiate level.
Maldonado, a diagnostic technician for Mercedes-Benz, has taken on a leadership role in the solar car project. Alongside him is Jabari Acre, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, who is serving in a project management role on the team.
鈥淢y goal here is to get experience working in a larger team because in a company you could easily be working in a team of 15 or 20 people, so I wanted to have that background,鈥� Acre said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going great so far and Dr. (Matt) Bohm has provided some great guidance because he already had that experience.鈥�
Bohm, an associate professor of mechanical engineering whose college team won the 1999 solar vehicle national championship, is the group鈥檚 advisor.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e really getting to apply all the things they learned in the classroom and expand beyond them and integrate them together in this project,鈥� Bohm said. 鈥淎 project like this really puts all their classroom knowledge into focus.鈥�
The team is currently made up of mostly mechanical engineering majors, but its members are hoping more students majoring in disciplines such as electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science join in.
Patrick Cole, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, is working on deepening his electrical engineering knowledge to bridge the team鈥檚 current gaps.
鈥淎s a mechanical engineer, the electronics-focused group is not your traditional group, but I like to take on that extra challenge and I want to learn more about every field,鈥� said Cole, whose group is working to take sensor input from the vehicle and use it to improve the vehicle design and help with the driver鈥檚 experience. 鈥淭his is going to be a good steppingstone for the students who are about to attend IM体育官网 Poly and it鈥檚 going to leave a big impact.鈥�
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