OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
The Daily Barometer
DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 541-737-2231
MONDAY MAY 11, 2015 VOL. CXVII, NO. 134
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Solar car team loses funding
Chris Correll
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
(above) Pre-electrical and computer engineers Gabriel Mariaand Gray Johnson make modifications to the Phoenix. Photo Courtesy of Solar Vehicle Team
The OSU Solar Vehicle Team visits Abu Dhabi to compete.
OSU Solar Vehicle Team to continue activity despite loss of sponsorship By Chris Correll THE DAILY BAROMETER
When the O re g o n St a t e University Solar Vehicle Team met with College of Engineering officials for a special announcement, they anticipated routine updates. Instead, they were informed of the college’s decision to cut their sponsorship funding. More than four months ago, a group of OSU engineers traveled halfway around the world to represent the university in the Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge, an international 1,200 kilometer race across the United Arab Emirates. They received $70,000 up
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front from the race’s organizers to transport their personnel and car overseas. Coming off of their latest accomplishment, the OSUSVT’s leadership was busy making preparations for their next big race when they received an email from the College of Engineering asking them to meet for an important announcement. Nicholas Braun, mechanical captain of the team and a sophomore in energy systems engineering, said the most they expected was a change in their location on campus. “It was speculated that we might be losing our garage where we store our car and do our work in … and that they
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were looking for a new place for us should we lose it,” Braun said. When they met with engineering staff later that day, they were told they would lose their status as a sponsored group. “Due to a number of things — space, lack of faculty advisor, cost — we were being dissolved, effectively,” Braun said. Scott Ashford, dean of the College of Engineering, commented on the sponsorship cut. “This is a tough decision,” Ashford said. “The team’s been successful, they’ve been through a lot, and I think they’ve overcome quite a few obstacles — and so this was not an easy decision for us, but we just felt it was in the best
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interest of the college.” In addition to space and cost, Ashford noted a lack of “professional organizations” to provide support for a solar car team, as well as lower college attendance at strictly solar-powered races compared to races that use more varied types of vehicles. OSU is invested in researching the sustainability of solar energy and creating more fuel-efficient transportation. However, Ashford explained that “those two technologies together, a totally solar-powered car, is really not a technology that’s going to come back in the near future.” See SVT | page 3
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