Power-Electrical Engineer Rohan Shah takes Quantum out for a spin around Chrysler’s Proving Grounds during our first time testing with the new 2012 Race Crew.
For those of you who missed the “Racing with the Sun” documentary that premiered in February, the 30 minute film of the 2011 Race Crew’s adventure in the World Solar Challenge will be airing again on Detroit Public Television (WTVS – Channel 56.1 Detroit). The documentary will be appearing on DPTV this Sunday, April 29th, 2012 at 4:30 p.m. so please tune in to watch the University of Michigan Solar Car Team in their 1,800 mile journey through the Outback!
However, if you’d still like to watch the documentary and cannot wait until Sunday or will not be able to watch it then, enjoy the film below in the embedded youtube video.
Again, we’d like to thank everyone who made the film possible:
Produced by: Nice Work Productions, Jay Nelson, & Jimmy Rhoades
Videography: Bob Berg & Marcin Szczepanski
Editor: Dave Babinski
Audio: Roger Smith
Associate Producer: Mary Kay Berg
Additional Videography: Evan Dougherty& John Walker
Music: Levi Taylor
Graphics: Steve Kimbrell
Additional Maps/Animation: Erik Wright-Olsen
Additional Audio: Karl Cole
Special Thanks: Charles Hutchins & World Solar Challenge Race Officials
Executive Producers: Steve Schram & Chris McElroy
Executive in Charge of Production: Lisa Rudgers (Vice President for Global Communications and Strategic Initiatives)
as well as Rich Homberg, President of DPTV for his support for our team and for making the DPTV airing possible.
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Ryder Liu from Santa Monica, California is an aerospace engineering student with a minor in computer science. Ryder is also part of the Michigan Pops Orchestra and the Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He has been playing the viola for about twelve years, and his favorite composer is Tchaikovsky.
He joined the Solar Car team in fall 2011 as part of the aerospace division because he was looking for an interesting project where he could explore his major and work with unique and innovative cars. Solar Car turned out the be the perfect place. His main responsibility as part of the aero division is helping design the 2013 car. However, during the race this summer, he will be part of the mechanical division and will also be a driver.
One of Ryder’s favorite quirks of the team is the ongoing theme in the aero division in which the aero lead, Michael Elmore, “kicks Ryder off the team.” According to Ryder, he has been “off the team” fifteen times by now. Ryder is definitely looking forward to the many memories he will make on ASC. He is most excited to travel with his teammates. He comments, “As time goes on, I’ve become attached to my teammates. They are some of my closest friends and I trust them completely.” Finally, he expects a positive experience as he shares, “Everyone on the team has a role that will be equally important in the coming race. Therefore, we all must stand together as a team to overcome the challenges of ASC and win the race.”
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Sarah Spitzer from West Bloomfield and Mackinac Island, Michigan is a junior majoring in Computer Engineering. She will be one of the race crew members this summer as part of the micro-electrical division, updating and debugging the car’s systems before and during the race. She quotes Edsger W. Dijkstra, who said, “Program testing can be a very effective way to show the presence of bugs, but is hopelessly inadequate for showing their absence.” In preparation for the race, she and others are working hard to test many different scenarios. Sarah plans to take an extra semester to complete her degree and minors in Multidisciplinary Design and possibly Near Eastern Studies and to eventually get a PhD.
She reflects about joining the team:
Since I first heard about the team before attending the university, I thought it sounded really neat and interesting and have always considered getting involved; however, I got busy with school and other groups and never got around to joining. At the beginning of this school year, I stood in the student section of the Big House at a football game cheering on the Solar Car Team and wondering why I hadn’t just joined yet. After that, I found the team at Festifall and told them I wanted to get involved; they welcomed me in and I have been involved ever since. I am so glad I found this amazing team.
In her role as a micro-electrical engineer, she mainly works on the electrical systems of the car, such as making circuit boards, programming, and debugging. But she feels as she, like all the team members, has other roles, too. She made clear that whenever something has to be done, like transporting Infinium to and from Ricardo, she can still help. Sarah really believes in the team aspect of Solar Car.
Besides Solar Car, Sarah is also involved in the Women’s Glee Club at Michigan. In addition, she is a representative for the College of Engineering in Central Student Government. She likes sci-fi books – The Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials, and the Ender’s Game series are among her favorites. One very interesting fact about her is that she has had her private pilot’s license since she was eighteen.
Finally, Sarah recalls her favorite moments with the team:
I have loved all of the opportunities to interact with people on the team and I think I have learned a great deal since joining Solar Car. I am really excited to get to devote my whole summer to Solar Car and to get to work on the project without the stresses of classes and schoolwork. I think this is a great opportunity and a great experience and being a part of Race Crew really makes me feel like a part of this incredible team.
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Jacob Zylema, a freshman from St. Joseph, Michigan, is one of the three micro-electrical engineers of our ASC race crew. And with his passion for electronics and his declared major, computer engineering, he will be more than prepared for summer’s race. He remarks about the race’s challenges: “I think that WSC really showed that we have a car capable of winning, and that the challenge is primarily with making sure that we can rely on every last system in the car by race time. That means running test after test, and making revision after revision, until we have a product that deserves our confidence. ”
After Jacob attended one of the mass meetings in the fall and then started coming to the GTMs, he was hooked. He considers Solar Car the most rewarding thing he is involved in at Michigan. Some of his favorite memories are the core initiation scavenger hunt, ice skating with the micro division, and designing PCBs (printed circuit boards) at 3 A.M. Besides Solar Car, his hobbies include playing the saxophone and reading when time allows. His favorite movies are There Will Be Blood and Dr. Strangelove and his favorite music is without a doubt The Beatles. He also loves the book, Cat’s Cradle.
Jacob has been working with PCBs and has been writing code for them. During the race, he will be responsible for the maintenance of the car’s micro-electrical systems. Once Jacob graduates, he is considering graduate school and research and is happy at the moment to have so many opportunities to pursue.
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Jeff Cwagenberg is a sophomore from Farmington Hills, Michigan. He is part of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences pursuing a major in Earth System Science Engineering. Jeff shares his story about how he became interested in his major:
“ Surprisingly, growing up, I was always terrified of thunderstorms. This one night at a camp run by my school district, we were sleeping outside in tents as opposed to the usual dormitory. The afternoon was one of those, where you knew that there were going to eventually be storms, but we set up ‘camp’ anyways. Just before bedtime, I was walking through the lodge back from brushing my teeth, and I saw a crowd gathering in the lobby. They were all standing around the TV, which was odd because it was never on. As I walked by, that unmistakable red warning banner was lining the bottom of the screen. As we went outside to bring everything back in from the tents, I noticed the sky rotating, and something resembling an upside down cone dropping from the sky above us. What I would later find out is that this funnel cloud above us would eventually go on to become a weak tornado. That is how my passion for weather started.”
His future plans might involve graduate school and, ultimately, either forecasting or climate research.
Jeff joined the team in his freshman year since he was looking to join something to which he could apply his major. After hearing that Solar Car had meteorologists on the team, he was immediately drawn in. In this summer’s ASC, Jeff will be the team’s meteorologist. His primary responsibility will be forecasting, which will significantly affect the team’s strategic decisions. One of his favorite memories with the team happened on a night of the typical GTM (general team meeting). Once the meeting ended, he stopped in at the Wilson Center and was able to attach some ribs in the car. He never imagined that he would have the experience to work on building a car, however small a contribution, he adds.
He is really looking forward to the race this summer since he will be forecasting on-the-go, which is a much more difficult task than forecasting inside in Ann Arbor. He is also excited for the stage stop in Ann Arbor as well as to see how the other teams operate. Additionally, Jeff gets excited about Toy Story although watching movies will be a luxury which he will have to live without during the race. He reflected that he always loved the concept of toys coming to life and that the third installment really connected with him as a college student leaving home for the first time. With his skills as a meteorologist, Jeff will be a great asset to the race crew this summer.
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Jeff Rogers finished his education in Ann Arbor only two years ago, but he hasn’t been disconnected from the Solar Car team yet. Jeff was an alumni mentor in this past fall’s World Solar Challenge (WSC) as well as the 2010 American Solar Challenge (ASC). What he misses most is “working with such a tightly knit group of people hell-bent on winning. It isn’t nearly as fun working for a real company.”
Jeff grew up in Rochester Hills, Michigan and studied computer science engineering receiving a Bachelor’s degree in 2008 and a Master’s in 2010. He joined the Solar Car team immediately during his freshmen year because he had so much fun with FIRST robotics in high school and because he marveled at the sound of a solar car competition (who doesn’t?). While he was new to the team, he worked on the micro-electrical system and figured out a rear-view camera. By 2007, he was in charge of the micro-electrical system and had started to redesign everything besides the rear-view camera. In 2009, he maintained his technical role as the lead micro-electrical engineer and was also a senior leader.
Jeff raced in WSC 2007, NASC 2008, and WSC 2009 as well as the two in which he mentored. One of his favorite moments was pulling Continuum out of its trailer for the first time in Darwin, and since the solar concentrators were kept confidential, he remembers that the reaction from the competitors was priceless. Moreover, he recalls, “I think the best part of any competition was being with all of the other teams in the pits before the race. In 2008 we all rallied together to help out Oregon State get their very first solar car running. It was great to work with people from other teams with a common goal.”
Today, Jeff is developing software for SpaceX. He believes that the technical challenges from Solar Car actually overlapp a lot with his work, and he felt that the teamwork experience was invaluable. He was very impressed with the latest race crew even though many of the members were rookies. To the next generation, he shares this advice: “Don’t take the competition so seriously that you don’t enjoy it.”
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Rohan Shah is a sophomore from Mumbai, India. And he has pretty high ambitions. Once he has received his electrical engineering degree, Rohan would like to work in the field for a while before he pursues a graduate degree in engineering and then an MBA. Nevertheless, he, like the rest of us, tries to save time for the pleasures of recreation. Rohan likes to chill with friends and play racquetball. He also watches a lot of TV shows, such as The Big Bang Theory, House, and White Collar. His favorite movies are Star Wars and Iron Man 2.
Rohan joined the team in Fall 2010 as a freshman. His motivation: “I felt that there was a lot of new knowledge and experience to be gained from this team. I also felt that creativity would be accepted well in this team and that people respected and acknowledged my thoughts and ideas.”
As a freshman, Rohan was part of the strategy division. The projects he worked on involved modeling the speed of the car on Australian terrain and organizing a lot of data that was recorded earlier when creating simulations of the car in WSC. In addition, he volunteered to help at team events, such as the Alumni tailgate and Tech Day. Now that Rohan is on race crew he has taken on more engineering responsibilities to prepare him for the unexpected obstacles that arise during the race.
His favorite memory with the team was attending the North American International Auto Show in Detroit where he was able to represent the team and the University of Michigan. There, he could demonstrate the team and University’s professionalism to all people around the world. (This might be worth mentioning – Rohan and I shared a shift at the auto show and isn’t it “the company that makes the feast?”)
Rohan is eagerly awaiting this summer’s race. He is hoping to be selected as a driver for the team. In any case, he is excited to travel around the United States and visit places he has never been before. Of course, he is enthusiastic about the competition itself. He will be acting as a power electrical engineer, ensuring that the array is working fine and is protected at all times. Moreover, he will be monitoring the status of the battery and the high voltage electrical systems in the car. Congrats on making race crew and good luck to Rohan!
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The prize after a hard night's work
Everyone knows that the Solar Car team’s work ethic is hard to match. Many of the team members spend hours upon hours in the Wilson Center whether they are slaving over a Solar Car task or wrapping up homework that got pushed back because of that Solar Car task. The team’s hard work and dedication are fundamental to its values and, consequently, its success. Now imagine what would happen when such creative thinkers and task-driven individuals put their minds together to devise something that has never been done before. Well, exactly this happened when two of the team’s leaders planned a mystery competition whose details were unknown until seconds before the journey began.
Last Friday, team members convened in the Wilson Center to participate in the mystery event. Seven teams, which were divided equally based on Solar Car experiences, set out on a scavenger hunt – perhaps the most challenging scavenger hunt that the majority of the competitors had ever faced. With each team having departed at sequential intervals, the objective was to return to the Wilson Center with one final answer, which would be clear after collecting several clues. Each clue dealt with one of the team’s primary sponsors and required knowledge about solar car racing as well as one’s own wit. Each team gave it their best shot and came out with something positive. The competition was a chance for non-race crew members to experience the thrill of racing with friends – either old or new. Overall, the night reinforced the unique qualities of Michigan’s Solar Car team.
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Brad (second from the left) with teammates and the weather balloon
Brad Charboneau grew up in Wyoming, Michigan, a suburb on the southwest side of Grand Rapids. He graduated in 2009 with a B.S.E. in Earth Systems Science and Engineering and a concentration in meteorology. Much of his time as an undergrad was spent in the Space Research Building across from the F.X.B. and, more importantly as Brad puts it, the Wilson Center.
During his junior year, a solar car alum and former race crew meteorologist, Nate Lehman, spoke in one of Brad’s meteorology lectures to recruit for NASC 2008, whose course was from Dallas to Calgary. The team needed a new forecaster since Nate would be graduating. Brad was working as a lab assistant but was eager to get experience more relevant to his field. He says, “ I also wanted to get involved with a club or team on campus, since my time in Ann Arbor was winding down. Solar car looked like an incredible opportunity to go out in the field and actually practice the things I had recently learned, and when Nate finished his presentation I jumped at the chance to get involved.”
As Race Crew Meteorologist, Brad was responsible for anticipating any weather-related phenomenon that could affect the performance of the car. He spent months before the race practicing forecasting. Specifically, he learned how to forecast different types of clouds and how they affected incoming solar radiation. Strategy Director, Alex Dowling, and he created a system for providing hourly solar radiation forecasts while on the race, which was a very difficult task when sitting in Ann Arbor, and doing so on the road without consistent data availability was even more challenging, Brad recalls. He also collected equipment from sponsors that would help with forecasting, such as portable weather stations, pyranometers, and even a portable weather balloon launching system. While on the race, he not only kept track of any hazardous weather but also set up the array stand in the mornings and helped find suitable camping areas at the end of the race day.
These were some of Brad’s favorite memories.
- I can’t remember when or where exactly this took place, but I am fairly certain it was on our way home from mock race. Richard Ho somehow managed to acquire a large number of glow sticks from a sponsor, and provided each car with a big stack of them for the race. While driving home in the middle of the night, one of the other cars in the caravan slowly passed my car while in the middle of a full-blown rave. Unfortunately, we could not locate our glow sticks and join the fun, so we substituted with our laptops, since all four of us had one open at the time. There has never been a nerdier rave in history.
- While in Sioux Falls during a stage stop in NASC, our car rolled in ahead of everyone else and found a large puddle of water in an open field to charge our array behind. This puddle of water was probably a few hundred yards away from the designated charging area that was set up for the media, and when other teams rolled in, they seemed very confused as to why we had the array set up so far away from everyone else. Eventually though, they figured out what we were after, and within minutes several other teams joined us on our puddle. It got to the point where NASC forced us and the other teams to move back to the designated areas, because there were only a few teams nearby for media interviews.
- To add to the previous story, at the end of the race NASC awarded our team with a divining rod made out of two twigs and some scotch tape. I still have that award to this day, and it makes me smile very time I see it.
- I think one of the most memorable parts of the race were the incredible people that allowed us to camp on their property. This was a bit more than just a slight inconvenience for them, considering that we had 21-ish people, four Chevy Tahoes, a semi-truck and a gigantic tent. One farming family near Regina even let us drag Continuum through their crop of lentils so that we could charge it next to a pond. They also opened up their house to us for the night. Incredibly nice people.
- As we approached the town of Morris, Manitoba, we became aware that the town was scheduled to have a parade in commemoration of a local rodeo event that day. If we had gotten stuck behind the parade, other teams would certainly have gained a significant amount of ground on us as we waited for it to finish. Unfortunately, Continuum was on pace to roll into town right at the beginning of the parade, and the roads had already been shut down. Fortunately we managed to get in contact with the local police and parade organizers, who suggested that we drive through town as part of the parade. If memory serves me right, Continuum rolled in just a few minutes before the start of the parade, and took its spot at the front of the line, directly behind the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Needless to say, the parade announcer and the local citizens were very confused, but seemed to get a kick out of the car as it passed through town.
What Brad misses most is the people with whom he raced. Although he caught up with many of them at a gathering, he wishes he could see more of them. He truly believes that spending so much time with his teammates and working together on the project helped him grow as a person. He also mentioned his great fondness for a “refreshing, warm Zevia straight out of the semi.”
Currently, Brad is receiving his Masters in meteorology at Texas Tech. With his research, he is trying to observe the differences in the environments of storms that produce tornadoes and storms that do not. He spent a lot of time on the road as part of a storm research team, planting mobile instruments in front of storms in order to collect data. The trust and coordination with teammates which he learned from Solar Car definitely helped prepare him.
Brad shares these two pieces of advice. “When setting up the Base-X tent, make sure you find high ground. I promise you it is not waterproof. Also, keep on pushing the boundaries. This team is where it is because over the years it has never settled for just adequate in any aspect. Do that, and there are no limits to what you can accomplish.”
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