Staff Reports
Middle school students from six local schools raced solar cars race to the finish line during the Junior Solar Sprint.
The event encourages seventh- and eighth-grade students to create a solar car out of wood, plastic and other materials and race it against other teams.
The cars, each with a solar panel, are approximately a foot long and 2-feet wide and must meet requirements of a technical inspection to ensure each meets specifications, said race director Justin Owen, an engineer who is engine business director of diagnostics for Cummins, Inc.
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The 28th annual event was held May 12 at Northside Middle School sponsored by Cummins.
Participating teams included Northside Middle School, St. Bartholomew Catholic School, St. Peter’s Lutheran School and Taylorsville Elementary School in Bartholomew County, St. Mark Catholic School in Indianapolis and Franklin Community Middle School.
The Junior Solar Sprint is designed to encourage student interest in science and engineering in a team atmosphere while having fun, Owen said.
Students design, build and test their solar sprint vehicles six to eight weeks in advance of the event and are only given a solar panel and motor, Owen said.
From there, the creativity is left up to students, who receive coaching from Cummins engineers in the weeks leading up to the race, Owen said. Of the 90 students who participated this year, more than 40 were young women, Owen said.
“It’s really an opportunity for kids or students who might not otherwise have exposure in science or engineering,” Owen said.
Team members are also interviewed by a panel of Cummins engineers, who judged their designs based on creativity and the adjustments students made. The solar cars were then put to the test in a double-elimination competition based on overall speed, Owen said.
Students competed on the running track at Northside, where the cars were required to travel 30 meters across the finish line to determine the overall winner, according to Owen. Having a lightweight car and a simple drive-train gearing mechanism were two design features that tended to put cars in the lead.
Owen said part of the design and building process involves having students think about what works well and what doesn’t.
“It definitely gives them to see how science and engineering can be fun, and how science and engineering are very much about problem-solving and improving something,” he said.
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Overall winner:
Northside Middle School
Runner-up:
St. Bartholomew Catholic School
Performance winner:
Northside Middle School, 4 Pounder car – Matthew Liu, Andrew Towers, Cole Ehara
Design winner:
Northside Middle School, Flash Fluff car – Anushka Nair, Kaylin Dehart
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