A group of students in safety vests stand behind a white solar-powered car labeled “24,” covered in sponsor logos, outside a garage. The Midnight Sun team appears to be celebrating or posing after the Formula Sun Grand Prix.
A group of students in safety vests stand behind a white solar-powered car labeled "24," covered in sponsor logos, outside a garage. The Midnight Sun team appears to be celebrating or posing after the Formula Sun Grand Prix.
Midnight Sun has returned from the three-day Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix competition, where teams of university students showcased solar-powered vehicles. Teams were scored based on the number of laps that their vehicle could complete around the track, and Midnight Sun placed 10th overall, having completed 50 laps across the competition. The UW group was also the highest-placing Canadian single occupant vehicle team.
Team members Aden Chu (electrical lead) and Stefanie Distefano (operations member) were proud of the improvements that the group had made since last year’s competition. Since then, “the entire goal has been increasing the reliability of the vehicle itself,” Chu said, explaining that the competition involves three days of scrutineering, in which teams’ cars are inspected carefully for safety and proper building techniques. Chu added that the team “knew what to expect,” going into this stage of the competition, and that they were able to improve upon the vehicle as it was a modified version of the one they competed with last year. In addition to these technical successes, the team was also able to enjoy their time together at the competition. “Everyone came back very happy this year, there was a lot of team-building and bonding. Everyone came back pretty close which was nice to see,” Distefano said.
As for future competitions, this year’s vehicle (MSXV) will be heading into retirement and the team will work towards building the MSXVI. “The biggest thing right now is just getting everything ready for the next one, and making improvements from what we saw on [MSXV],” Distefano explained. Chu said that this next vehicle’s manufacturing phase would begin in the next few weeks, but that there are “always going to be design iterations” that happen around this time, and that “along the way, the nice thing is [that] you learn a lot.”
For students interested in getting involved with Midnight Sun, Distefano highlighted that it’s a very open and welcoming environment, regardless of experience level or faculty, and that there’s no need to apply in order to join: “Everyone’s super excited to teach you about new things.” Distefano, who is a chemistry student, made it clear that there’s lots of space on the team for those that aren’t necessarily interested in the engineering side of things. Echoing this point, Chu added that the operations and logistics team (who handle things like planning for competitions and food) is vital to the success of the project at large. “Food is like the number one contributor to team morale by far,” Chu said. Having members that are in charge of media, marketing, finances and strategy planning is all part of what makes the group possible.
Visit Midnight Sun’s website to learn more.
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- A white solar-powered race car numbered 24 from UW’s Midnight Sun team speeds along a curving racetrack at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, surrounded by grass, trees, metal barriers, and another car in the background.
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- A smiling young man wearing a helmet and racing harness sits in the cockpit of a partially assembled Midnight Sun race car, surrounded by exposed wires and mechanical components.
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- A group of people wearing safety vests work on the exposed interior of a vehicle, with wires and components visible. A laptop displaying data is connected to the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix entry from UW Midnight Sun.
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- (Photo credit: Cora Kennedy)
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- Two people in yellow safety vests work together on a partially assembled Midnight Sun vehicle inside a workshop, surrounded by mechanical components and tools. One person smiles while holding a tablet.
