News Release

November 16, 2007

KSU Solar Car Team receives Governor's Energy Award

The Kansas State University Solar Car Racing Team received the Governor's Energy Recognition Award in Renewable Energy at the Kansas Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Conference held in Topeka.

The Kansas State University Solar Car Racing Team is a student-run organization consisting of about thirty students that design, build, and race solar powered cars. There is a strong emphasis on the educational aspects of the project as students are exposed to a broad range of business and engineering disciplines. Frequently, students learn about subjects long before they are exposed to them in the classroom and gain real world skills that cannot be taught in the classroom.

The team was formed in 1995, and the first car, Solution, was raced in Sunrayce 97, placing 24th out of 36 teams. The second car, Apollo, was raced from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida in Sunrayce 99, placing 9th out of 32 teams.

CATalyst, the third car, raced to a fifth place finish in the 2001 American Solar Challenge in a field of 30 teams. CATalyst raced again in the summer of 2003, finishing 2nd in the Formula Sun Grand Prix and 8th in the American Solar Challenge.

Paragon competed in the 2005 North American Solar Challenge and finished 14th out of 50 cars. This involved an international 2,500 mile race from Austin, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The team is currently designing a new car for entry in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge scheduled for next summer.

Corporations, government organizations, as well as individuals provide materials, time and knowledge to the team.