As the team relaxes before the start of the race, the Strategists are finishing last minute preparations for the race. Jordan is forecasting weather while Danyang and Andrew are analyzing race simulation results. Beth is working on getting new weather hardware that just arrived from Climatronics. Despite uncertainties in strategy simulations and forecasts, one thing is certain: tomorrow should be an interesting day of racing.

Strategy Discussion: Jordan and Andrew review weather forecasts and simulation results.

The Team arrived and set up camp at the Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, TX yesterday evening. We will be camped here at the track for the next week as we and 15 other solar car teams work to pass the scrutineering and qualifying events. Some time last evening was spent meeting the other teams that also arrived early. It's been fun to meet students from Calgary, New York, Germany and Taiwan who are as passionate about solar cars as we are.

After an event kick-off meeting was held this morning, the testing began. We will start off with battery scrutineering this afternoon and plan to have all static and dynamic tests completed before Wednesday, when the Formula Sun Grand Prix qualifying event will begin.

Many people hear about the University of Michigan's Solar Car Team, but not many know what it feels like to be on the Team. As a freshman at the University, joining the Solar Car Team was an opportunity to become a member of a supportive and friendly community. I joined the electrical engineering division in the fall of 2009 with no clue as to what I was doing. After the first couple of weeks I had been taught the basics, and now I am going to race the car in ASC. The Team is a great get-away place, a place to use all the knowledge that classes have put in your head, with peers to instruct you on what to do with that knowledge. Solar Car has been a chance to make new friends and to do something that can change the world. So what does it feel like to be a member on the Solar Car team? Well I guess I can not really say that answer, but I invite you to come and find out.

The Team's semi trailer and crate returned to Ann Arbor late last month from it's long journey back from Australia. Since its return, team members have been emptying equipment out of the semi and using some of it to finish work on a mule car project. Infinium has been brought into the Team's workspace where race crew members who participated in the World Solar Challenge last fall have been helping new members to become acquainted with the car and its subsystems. 

A Race Committee has been selected to head the race preparation efforts as the Executive Committee elected for the 2011 project will continue focusing on designs for the next Michigan Solar Car. Team members from every division have applied to be part of the race crew heading to the American Solar Challenge this coming June. Race crew member selections are expected to be announced in the next couple of weeks.