Solar Car Challenge Foundation

SOLAR CAR CHALLENGE
Vision for 2011-2014
The Solar Car Challenge has sixty-five on-going high school solar car projects located in twenty-three states. These teams are in the process of designing, engineering, and building roadworthy solar cars in anticipation of an upcoming solar racing event. The Challenge’s Solar Education Program provides support for schools seeking to be a part of this top-level engineering project.
The Solar Car Challenge’s Education Program has worked effectively for the last sixteen national events, but with more teams seeking admission to the project, the Solar Car Challenge Foundation has decided to address growth by the development of regional events leading up to a national Solar Car Challenge.
The Solar Car Challenge Foundation will establish a three-year pilot project in Texas to develop a “model” for encouraging participation in the program, and to support participating Texas schools with education materials and on-site visits. Beginning in the Fall of 2011, the Challenge will reach out to new schools in Texas to either enter or observe the program in anticipation of the 2012 cross-country race from Texas to California. We will also reach out to selected California schools that might be motivated by an event ending in their community.
This model will be sharpened and focused over two twelve-month education cycles, and finalized in the Spring of 2014 as our formal growth model is implemented in California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado, and Florida. The end product of this Vision is five or six regional events leading up to a national high school Solar Car Challenge.
The immediate goal of this “model” is to create new high school solar car teams in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Amarillo, Lubbock, Austin, Corpus Christi, Tyler-Kilgore, and the “Texas Valley” in anticipation of a regional Solar Car Challenge in the summer of 2013.