News

Awards Given at Junior Solar Sprint

May 13, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

Winners were announced at the eleventh annual Junior Solar Sprint (Golden, CO), which took place on Saturday, May 12, 2001. Thirty-seven teams of middle school students from across Colorado raced model solar energy-powered cars. Trophies for the fastest cars were given to students racing Maplewood Middle School's Golden Commando, first place; Sinclair Middle School's The Flyer, second place; Eagle Valley Middle School's King Louis II, third place; North Valley Middle School's Nameless, fourth place; and Sinclair Middle School's Hog's Breath, fifth place.

Five design trophies based on technology, craftsmanship and innovation were given to teams from Lyons Middle School, first place; Monarch K-8's Solar Flyer, second place; South Valley Middle School's Pride of South Valley #1, third place; Maple Grove Elementary, fourth place; and North Valley Middle School's Speed Demon, fifth place.

Each team started with a motor and a silicon solar cell. Using any other materials, competitors designed and built vehicles no larger than 12" wide, 24" long and 12" high. The event was sponsored by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO), Kaiser-Hill (Golden, CO), Midwest Research Institute (Kansas City, MO), Battelle (Columbus, OH) and Bechtel (San Francisco, CA).