SSU SWE: Solar Regatta Competition

Presenter: Ceara Sullivan

Co-Presenter(s):
Flor Luna, Giancarlo Succi

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Sara Kassis

Department: Engineering

Funding Source/Sponsor: Koret Scholars Program

President's Strategic Plan Goal: Sustainability and Environmental Inquiry

Abstract:
The Engineering Department's club, Society of Women Engineers, will take part in the 2023 Solar Regatta competition which is funded and hosted by Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) for college teams around California. During the regatta, we will take part in three different types of races: a sprint, a slalom, and an endurance race. We worked together as a team to design and build our own solar powered boat starting with SMUD provided solar panels, a donated trolling motor, and a donated canoe. We improved the design from last year by changing the solar panel attachments from rope and screws to T-tracks for easy mounting onto the boat. We changed the steering from ropes and pulleys to a hand made motor handle which we designed to act like a sailboat tiller. We also worked with the SSU Art Department students to repair and refurbish the boat with a themed paint-job and mast figurehead. In this project we used our hands-on and out-of-the-class experience to build our communication skills, gain new insight into renewable energy, and create lasting friendships in our co-ed, multidisciplinary team.