The Western High School Solar Cats have been very successful at building an electric car that runs on batteries powered by the sun. The team will return to the 2021 Solar Car Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on July 16, 2021. This will be their first appearance since winning the Solar Car Challenge Classic Division in 2018.
This year, the Western High Solar Cats will compete in the new Electric-Solar Powered Division, which seeks to make solar car racing a reality by incorporating solar panels and a two-passenger vehicle capable of urban driving. The team will debut their new “E-Cat” constructed from the ground up.
The Solar Car Challenge teaches high school students around the world how to build roadworthy solar cars. The Western High Solar Cats team has learned how to plan, design, engineer, build, race and evaluate solar cars and are demonstrating how green technology can create a better world.
The Solar Car Challenge will feature 251 solar car projects in various stages of development in anticipation of the upcoming solar car-racing event. Teams will travel to Texas from 38 states, as well as Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Qualified teams will get the opportunity to drive their solar cars at the Texas Motor Speedway.
“The challenge gives students an opportunity to learn skills they can carry forward in their academic and professional careers, such as mechanical, electrical and software engineering, as well as problem solving, team building and project management,” said Western High Assistant Principal Christine Graf. “The students have spent months working on their car. This is an opportunity to demonstrate ingenuity and celebrate their efforts.”
The Western High School Solar Cats leaders and team members are: Rohan Jaison, co-captian and telemetry director, Justin Fox, co-captain and system architecture, Fernando De Achurra, mechanical design director, Brian Abin, Terry Russel, Nadia Auguste and Ethan Kaplan.
