Illinois State University’s solar car team has come away with two top three finishes at two prominent solar car races. Third place at both the Formula Sun Grand Prix and the American Solar Challenge are milestones for ISU.
The third-place finish in the American Solar cross-country road race marks a first for ISU's solar car program in its 20-year history.
“I could not be more proud of this team. They are a remarkable group of students and have performed well and beyond my wildest hopes,” said Daniel Holland, chair of the ISU Department of Physics and founding member of the ISU solar car team.
The Formula Sun Grand Prix is a track race that serves as a qualifier for the American Solar Challenge, requiring teams to cover over 200 miles in one day, or 300 miles over two consecutive days. The American Solar Challenge spans about 1,500 miles, this year starting in Nashville, Tennessee, and ending in Casper, Wyoming last weekend.
“We are incredibly proud of ourselves. We truly did not believe we could get this far with the situations we were in,” said Mason Myre, the social media and marketing lead for the ISU team.
He noted the commitment required for solar car racing, emphasizing the time and effort dedicated to the project.
"Solar car is very demanding. This is a two-week race where if you had a birthday party for a friend you can't be there. You have to give a lot of your life to solar car, but at the end of the day that's what gets you the results that we wanted,” Myre said.
Shaun Nayahangan, a former vice president of the team, took on various roles, including managing food for the team during the race.
“I am just there ready to lend a hand where I can,” said Nayahangan, adding he was amazed with a sense of disbelief at the team’s strong performance given its relative inexperience compared with other teams.
“‘There were a lot of other teams with a lot more history, a lot more experience, so we were going in there as the underdogs,” Nayahangan said.
The team, formed in August 2004, relies heavily on collaboration and dedication from students across various disciplines at the university.
Holland explained the significance of using components from previous cars each year, estimating the cost to be between $60,000 and $80,000 for the project. The solar cars are named Mercury as a nod to a NASA project led by one of Holland's research students.
Myre and Nayahangan both said they would like to contribute more in the future for their team.
“I would like to find more sponsorships and maybe strengthen our bonds with our current sponsors,” Myre said.
“My hope is to contribute to a team that can stand for a lot longer than it has already," Nayahangan said. "When I first joined the team there were two people on the team, this is right after COVID, and from the two people plus me, we managed to grow this into a team that has over 20 students who are all very dedicated and all very passionate.”
With this being the best finish in the team’s history, Holland said he looks forward to repeating the success in the future — looking ahead to future competitions and enhancing its sponsorship and community engagement.
