American Solar Challenge 2003 - July 9th - July 11th

Last few days before the competition starts

The past few days have been very eventful. On Wednesday we finished all primary inspections and tests and were officially declared to be qualified to run in next week's race. We were the 8th team to be completely done with the qualifications this week. On Thursday we ran some errands, did laundry, and scouted out the first 40 miles of the official race route (Chicago to Joliet). Friday was a great. We were one of two teams permitted to display our solar car at the Federal Complex in Chicago (about 3 blocks east of the Sears Tower), so we entertained questions from the city folk most of the day on Friday. Some of us toured the city on Friday, too. We visited the Sears Tower, Grant Park, the Lake front, Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, the elevated train loop, and the commuter rail line. We took many photos, some of which I will send out as soon as I have time to review and resize them for emails.

We will be displaying our car at the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday along with the 20 other teams that qualified for this race. Please check the American Solar Challenge web page for more information about other teams: http://www.americansolarchallenge.org