Fort Wayne

Images from Mock Race

Posted Sat, 08/01/2009 - 2:21pm by Steven Hechtman


View of Infinium from the Lead, with Chase and the Semi Trailer in tow.


Lower surface of Infinium sits while the team charges at LeRoy JrSr High in LeRoy, Illinois


Team members (bottom to top) Eric Relson, Gerald Chang, Santosh Kumar, Dylan Keefe-Reitzell, and Sudeep Rohatgi hold the upper surface while charging at Saint Joseph's High School in South Bend, Indiana.

Mock Race Update: Day 2

Posted Tue, 07/21/2009 - 6:32pm by Steven Hechtman

After a full day of racing, the team has arrived in Effingham, Illinois. The team left Fort Wayne, Indiana at 8:12 AM (we had to observe the final 12 minutes of our checkpoint to start the day) and arrived in Kokomo, Indiana at 10:40 AM.

While at the checkpoint, the weather crew successfully launched a weather balloon from the weather vehicle. Thanks once again to Ford for providing us with a F-150 Platinum to transport our weather equipment, and to InterMet Systems for providing our team with the radiosondes launched by the balloon.


The team prepares to lift the upper surface at the control point in Kokomo, Indiana.


Rachel Unger stretches after her stint in the solar car while Sudeep Rohatgi readies himself for his turn.

After leaving from Kokomo, the team drove to Terre Haute, Indiana, arriving at 3:45. Leaving Terre Haute, the team drove towards Effingham, Illinois, with an eye on storms to the west and south of Effingham. Fortunately, the team reached Effingham minutes before 5:00 PM, avoiding all traces of rain.

We would like to thank the Knights of Columbus in Effingham, Illinois, where we have currently set up camp for tonight. They have graciously allowed us to inhabit their parking lot, where we will prepare for the next day. Tomorrow's route takes us from Effingham, Illinois to Bloomington, Illinois, then on to Kankakee, Illinois, and finally towards South Bend, Indiana.

Mock Race Update: Day 1

Posted Mon, 07/20/2009 - 10:50pm by Steven Hechtman

After a succcessful day of racing, the team is now in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Our Mock Race started at 2:22 PM (as opposed to the typical 8:00 AM start), so all who stayed up the previous night installing array modules could get some rest. We left the workspace for Fort Wayne, our first control stop, traveling at the speed limit for almost all of the day. Rather than ending the day at 5:00 PM, we set a finish time at 6:00 PM due to the afternoon start.

During the 138 mile drive across Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana highways, we pulled over only once--but only because our lead car needed to be filled with gas! We arrived in Fort Wayne at 5:42, for an average speed of 41.4 miles per hour.

Charging at the end of the race day in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Charging at the end of the race day in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Semi trailer parked at camp in the Fort Wayne Coliseum
Semi trailer parked at camp in the Fort Wayne Coliseum