Dates & Locations

When	What	Where
Sunday September 18, 2011 10:30 - 4:00 PM	New Team Workshop	DFW Marriott Hotel & Golf Club 3300 Championship Parkway Fort Worth, TX 76177 (817) 497-3023
Saturday-Sunday January 21-22, 2012	Specialty Workshop	DFW Marriott

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who Should Attend?	Any interested teacher or student that wants to build a high school solar car project in preparation for a Solar Car Challenge race.
How Many Can Attend?	Please limit your attendance to no more than ten students per school.
How Much Does it Cost?	Nothing.
Is a Reservation Required?	Yes. Please contact Dr. Lehman Marks at (214) 587-8489 no later than one week in advance of the workshop.
When are the Workshops?	Scroll up to the top of this page for the dates and locations.

Photos

Typical New Team Workshop Schedule

10:30 AM	Coffee and Meet Conference Participants
11:00 AM	How to Develop Your Team
11:30 AM	Race Rules
12:00 PM	Lunch on Your Own
1:00 PM	Mini-course in Electrical Engineering - Includes solar car electrical systems, battery technology, and safety issues.
2:00 PM	Break
2:15 PM	Mini-course in Mechanical Engineering - Includes materials technology and aerodynamics construction techniques.
3:15 PM	The Value of Planning
3:45 PM	Collateral Solar Car Projects - Includes telemetry, weather forecasting, and amateur radio.

Typical Specialty Workshop Schedule

Saturday
8:30 AM	Welcome and Coffee with Guests
9:00 AM	Getting the Car Rolling Building the Vehicle Frame    Materials    Roll bar and crush zones    Suspension    Wheels and Brakes
10:30 AM	Powering the Solar Car Photovoltaic Array How much energy do you need?    Pre-made arrays    Raw cells and lamination    Do-it-yourself arrays Getting energy to the batteries    Power trackers    DC-DC converters Electric Motors    Brushed motors and their controllers    Brushless motors and their controllers    Hub motors and their controllers
12:00 PM	Lunch on Your Own
1:15 PM	Batteries Battery types and choices    Figuring ot the kW/h total    Choosing batteries based on Amp/hr rating Battery testing
2:00 PM	Break to See a Solar Car An opportunity to see a high school solar car and meet team members
2:45 PM	Power Management Input v. Output What you really get from your panels vs. what you will really use going down the road. Communicating with your driver
4:00 PM	Telemetry Systems
5:00 PM	Social Festivities for Workshop Participants
Sunday
9:00 AM	Solar Car Team-Building    Fundraising for Solar Teams    Developing Team Specialty Skills
10:00 AM	Break
10:15 AM	Aerodynamics and Friction Go farther on less! Simple ideas that make your care more efficient:    Rolling resistance (tires and bearings)    Reducing the weight of your car with composite materials Simple body aerodynamics (fairings and coverings) Complex body aerodynamics (full-size bodies) Special Demonstration by Mark Westlake How to use foam-core boards to build wheel fairings, and how to use shrink wrap to decrease aerodynamic drag
11:30 AM	Lunch on Your Own
1:00 PM	The 2012 Solar Car Challenge    Rules for the 2012 Race    Race Logistics       A typical race day at the track       A typical race day on the road    Safety Issues
2:00 PM	Panel Discussion How to start a new high school solar car team, How to raise money

Workshop Presentations

Mehcanical & Design (1.5 MB) Presented by Jensen Krage and David Hardy - September 18, 2011

Solar Car Design (2.2 MB) Presented by Jensen Krage and Matt Tunnell - October 9, 2010

Mechanical (77 KB) Presented by David Hardy and Matt Carter - October 9, 2010

2009 Specialty Workshop Webcast Recorded - February 7-8, 2009

2008 Specialty Workshop Webcast Recorded - February 2-3, 2008

Motors (711 KB) Presented by Keith Reese, Advisor, Houston Solar Race Team - February 7, 2009

Motor Controllers (711 KB) Presented by Keith Reese, Advisor, Houston Solar Race Team - February 7, 2009

A Simple Telemetry System (291 KB) Includes sample LabView code. Presented by Chris Jones, Technical Director - February 8, 2009

Labview Source Code (296 KB) Presented by Chris Jones, Technical Director - February 8, 2009

The Mechanical Engineering in High School Solar Cars (39.6 MB) Presented by Mark Westlake, Advisor, Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team - February 8, 2009

Steps and Resources for Composite Construction (68 KB) Presented by Mark Westlake, Advisor, Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team - February 8, 2009

Scoring Procedures (369 KB) Presented by William Shih, Technology Director - February 3, 2007

Taking a Top and Bottom Mold of MIT (44.3 MB) Presented by Lee Cabe, Advisor, NFA Solar Racing Team - February 3, 2007

Mechanical Engineering Applications (11.7 MB) Presented by Malcolm Stalcup, Advisor, Solar Stealth - January 18, 2004

Fundraising Ideas (101 KB) Presented by Ryan Hughes - July 13, 2003

Mini-Course in Electrical Engineering (86.5 KB) Presented by Chris Jones - July 13, 2003

Planning (43.0 KB) Presented by Daniel Sandt - July 22, 2002

A Brief Overview of Fundraising (68.5 KB) Presented by Danny Jamieson and Jason Hendrickson - July 22, 2002

Mechanical Presentation (6.48 MB) Presented by Jon Hinds and Mike Dwyer - July 22, 2002

Copyright (c) 2012 Lehman Marks. All Rights Reserved. Solar Car Challenge, 3505 Cassidy Drive, Plano, TX 75023 Questions about the challenge? Contact Dr. Lehman Marks, Event Coordinator