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2009 Workshops

Two very successful workshops for SunSprint and MiniSprint/Solar Boats were run at the University for teachers who had never taken part in the events.   The participants were provided with an insight into the running of the events, rules and regulations, putting together a team and the technical side of the races as well as a very intensive hands-on experience with building model solar cars and boats.  The feedback was very positive and we are looking at running another great Challenge this year.

Mrs Peg Baker from St Matthews Catholic School, Mudgee and Mr John Lloyd from St Pauls Catholic College, Greystanes were invited to speak at the SunSprint Workshop.  Peg spoke of her experiences in encouraging students in country schools to compete at the Challenge whereas John spoke of the intricate technical aspects of designing, building and racing a car in the event.  Ben Cribbin, an ex-SunSprint competitor from St Pauls College and now a first year student in Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW, related his experience on the importance of thoroughly understanding the rules and regulations, the process of designing and building a car and coming first in a competition.

About SunSprint Challenge 

The SunSprint Model Solar Car Challenge is sponsored by the Faculty of Science with the generous support from the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and proudly sponsored by Jaycar Electronics.

Click here for more information about Sunsprint.

2008 NSW State SunSprint Model Solar Challenge - Main prizes

Open

Novice

Special Awards

Report

Congratulations to all winners in the Open and Novice Categories and also the Special Awards! And a very big 'thank you' to all schools and teams that made it to the Challenge in such awful weather.

This year 34 teams in total registered for the NSW State SunSprint Challenge which was held at the University of New South Wales on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th September.

Registrations fell at the last minute due to the bad weather despite which the 22 teams that took part enjoyed themselves and the event ran smoothly thanks to the very able management of the Sunswift volunteers led by Clara Mazzone and Mark Needham from the Australian-International Model Solar Challenge.

We might as well have named our event "RainSprint"! We had continuous rain and high winds on both Friday and Saturday and it was freezing. All one could see on the main University walkway and surrounding rubbish bins were wet broken umbrellas. At least the SunSprinters had the veranda of the Quad Building to shelter under.

The highest sunlight percentage was about 12% and some cars managed to go round the full distance of the track but the times were much slower than what it would have been if they were racing in sunshine. I am sure our contestants gained a lot of experience and knowledge on how to run their cars in inclement weather. If the National final in Hobart has weather like we had for our competition, the NSW teams will be flying on the track..... hopefully, not off it!

ECSTASY from St Pauls Catholic College, Greystanes had a tough competition racing against Moorebank High's RAPTOR but in the end emerged the winner in the Open Category.

In the Novice Category, SUN DRAGON from the Sydney Secondary College, Balmain took the first prize.

Many thanks to the Faculty of Engineering, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and Jaycar Electronics for supporting the SunSprint Model Solar Car Challenge.

Prem L Kumar
NSW State-UNSW Co-ordinator
The SunSprint Model Solar Challenge
8th September 2008

2008 SunSprint Challenge competition rules

1. Regulations synopsis (download PDF)

2. Car specifications (download PDF)

3. Administration (download PDF)

2008 SunSprint Challenge Updates

08/08/2008 - MiniSprint Information
Purchase of a car kit automatically enters the kit in the competition...

05/08/2008 - List of registered schools and teams for SunSprint 2008
List of registered schools and teams for SunSprint 2008...

04/08/2008 - EasyMax solar power enhancer
Very easy to use, provides a huge benefit in the performance of the car...

29/05/2008 - Solar Panels and Wattmeter
The 2008 Jaycar catalogue lists on page 240 a new Hobby Solar Panel...

SunSprint Model Solar Car Challenge 2007 results  

New South Wales wins the AIMSC Finals 

Congratulations to the 2007 National Champions St Pauls Catholic College from Greystanes!

Team PREDATOR with Benjamin Cribbin and Jared Farrugia won the Australian-International Model Solar Challenge finals at Adelaide during the weekend of 27^th and 28^th October under very bad weather conditions.

Congratulations also to St Joseph's Central School, Blaney who won the Best Newcomer trophy with Team ELEMENT - this was their first time ever in the Nationals.  The ELEMENT team members were Daniel Anlezark, Samantha Townsend-Mackie, Shannon Chapman and Bradley Hely.

Six teams from NSW took part in the Nationals:  St Pauls Catholic College (2), Moorebank High School, Newington College, All Saints Grammar and St Joseph's Central School, Blayney.  Of these six teams two brought home trophies - St Pauls the winner's trophy and St Joseph's Central the best newcomer's trophy.  New South Wales also had a solar boat entry from Our Lady of Fatima School Caringbah but unfortunately they did not win.

The 2008 SunSprint Challenge will be held in the first weekend of September and the Nationals has been agreed to be hosted by Hobart.