Local WMU student to compete in cross-country solar car race

by Matt Russell | July 16, 2012 4:53 am

Andrew Day

Sugar Land's Andrew Day is set to compete in the 2012 American Solar Challenge.

Day, a graduate of Stephen F. Austin High School and a mechanical engineering major at Western Michigan University, is part of a 12-person student team competing in the cross-country solar competition.

The biennial collegiate eight-day race began Saturday, July 14 in Rochester, N.Y., tracking a course through the heart of Kalamazoo, Mich. The finish line is in St. Paul, Minn.

Solar race teams from around the world will cover more than 1,600 miles, making mandatory overnight and checkpoint stops along the route. Kalamazoo and WMU's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences will serve as a mid-day checkpoint on Tuesday, July 17.

This year's challenge features 18 teams from engineering schools in the United States and Canada. The goal of the competition is to design, build and drive solar-powered cars in a cross-country timed event.

A participant since 1989, WMU is one of three Michigan schools competing. Other teams are from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Advisers for the 2012 WMU Sunseeker team are Brad Bazuin, Abraham Poot, Jorge Rodriguez and Fred Sitkins.