Hi All–

The outreach event at the Green Homes and Renewable Energy Festival in Mid-Town St. Louis was a success; thanks to everyone who stopped by to see us.  The car was on display from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, along with about 65 other booths that were selling, promoting, or advocating green and sustainable practices.  Twice during the day, children participated in a solar car race of their own, racing solar cars built from kits down the middle of the street.  The kits included axles and wheels, a rectangle of corrugated plastic for the body, a small motor connected to an axle with a rubber band, and a solar cell to power the motor.  After each of the races, the winning builder and their car got their picture taken with our team and our car, as well as a group shot of all the solar racers.  Several groups of students and faculty from both Principia’s St. Louis and Elsah campuses also stopped by our booth, as well as a few of our sponsors.  Thanks again to everyone for their support!

This week, work continues on the second upper body of the car.  Amoung other things, we are also working on designing a new kingpin as an improvement to the car, and looking for someone with a waterjet to cut out a couple of small parts for our current kingpin.  Our next outreach event will be at Principia College’s Homecoming weekend.

Thanks for reading,

Tom Brownell

Team Leader, Principia Solar Car Project