WHEN SHOULD THE RAYCE BE HELD?
ASC2003 began on July 13th. Sunrayces were held in June. While no date is best for everyone, what are your thoughts on when to start the rayce? (In terms of your schedule, weather challenges, PR, etc).
How to submit your response.
RESPONSES (Generally listed with newest response first.)
RESPONSE#8
For southern hemisphere teams summer hollydays are different (because
summers are different, duh!). In Brazil, 2nd semester starts Aug. July is
hollydays. June is the end of the semester: all the final works and exams
happening, professors still teaching etc.
Hence, it will be better to us if the ASC happens in JULY.
I *think* AUS is a bit different: 2nd semester starts July.
FROM: vini
RESPONSE#7
I agree with Matt that July is a better month to race [refers to Response#1]. While there may
be increased traffic during the summer months, I believe it is in the
best interest for each team to have as much time after school is out to
prepare for the rayce (taking the stance that the majority of the teams
are from academic institutions). As was seen at qualifier, many teams
(ours included) had a lot of work to do on their cars, and given that
one extra month can really make a difference in terms of completion.
The summer months increase productivity and focus; whereas having the
race in June, teams would have to juggle classes, move-out arrangements,
and finals as well as the construction/testing in the months preceding
the rayce.
Thank you,
FROM: Michael Balsamo,
Penn Solar Racing Team
RESPONSE#6
July is definitely better than June. For example, our school got out the
11th of June and then there was graduation a few days after that for the
seniors. Also, the few weeks after finals and graduation were vital to get
the whole car together. If the race were held in June, it would have been
absolute mayhem for us.
FROM: Brian Belmont,
Stanford Solar Car Project
RESPONSE#5
The month of July works best for Principia - as we are still in school until the second week of June.
Thanks for asking.
FROM: Joe Ritter, Principia
RESPONSE#4
May ?
FROM: Ken Thompson
RESPONSE#3
I would like to point out that there were still many teams 'finishing'
their cars at Qualifiers so perhaps the later month would be a better
choice because of this.
FROM: Jason Halpern,
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities,
Mechanical Engineering,
Team Manager,
Solar Vehicle Project
RESPONSE#2
The July time has seemed to work out well as far as sunshine is
concerned. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the part of the US that we
were driving through. If we change the route, we may have a whole other
weather pattern. Another reason for choosing July is that WMU's spring
semester ends in time for students to be part of the rayce team. Also,
for teams that go to the pre-qualifier in May, It gives them 6 weeks to
work on the car before final qualifier. I found the pre-qualifier most
useful for our team. It helped us prepare for scrutineering so that we
passed in slightly more than one day.
The prequalifier was well worth the trip to Topeka.
FROM: Abraham L. Poot,
Sunseeker 03 Advisor,
Western Michigan University
RESPONSE#1
I think July is best. Although there aren't many, some schools are on a trimester system which means they don't get out until early June. I think most teams really need that month after finals and before the race to really get last minute things put together and organized. June also tends to have a lot more rain.
FROM: Matt
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