WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

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Western Michigan University (WMU) is a public university established in 1903; its main campus is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As of 2005, the school has over 25,000 enrolled students. The school is the fourth largest in the state of Michigan and is one of the 50 largest universities in the United States. The school's mascot is Buster Bronco, and the school colors are brown and gold.

 

WMU's College of Aviation is one of the largest aviation programs in the United States; the university is also noted for its Paper Engineering and Behavioral Analysis programs, as well as for the Haworth College of Business.

 

WMU's expansion projects include a new Business and Technology park for research, a new aviation campus in Battle Creek, Michigan, and extensive building renovation and restoration in the Kalamazoo campus, as well as a new Chemistry building and Performing Arts Center that are planned to be completed in the Fall of 2006.

 


 

 Western Michigan University - Sunseeker Solar Car Team 2005

 

 

ACADEMICS

 

Currently, Western Michigan University has 26,239 students enrolled for the 2005-2006 academic year; 21,434 undergraduate students and 4,805 graduate students. The average entering freshmen at Western received an ACT score of 20-25 and had a high school GPA of 3.3.

 

The university offers 254 degree programs through 9 colleges. The colleges that are part of WMU are: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Aviation, the Haworth College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the College of Fine Arts, the College of Health and Human Services, the Lee Honors College, and the Graduate College.

 

The Haworth College of Business (Named for Haworth Inc., an office interiors company based in Holland, MI) operates out of Arnold Schneider Hall. The school is named for an alumnus, who gave a gift of $5,000,000 towards the construction of Schneider Hall, and later served on the school's board of directors. Aside from having a nationally recognized business program, the Haworth College of Business has one of the oldest and most successful Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs in the state. It also is the sixth largest college of business in the country, with over 5,200 students.

 

 

 

 Well done Sunseeker Team - a credit to the University

 

 

SUNSEEKER TEAM MEMBERS:

 

Abraham Poot

Portage, Michigan, USA

Electronic Engineering Technology

Advisor

 

Andrew O’Neill

Portage, Michigan, USA

Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student

Consultant

 

Carl (CJ) Hawkins

Niles, Michigan, USA

Aeronautical Engineering Junior

Safety, Body, Driver

 

Helio Vogel

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Computer Engineering Graduate Student

Telemetry, Navigation, Co-Captain

 

Jim Plocinik

Livonia, Michigan, USA

Mechanical Engineering Senior

Suspension, Brakes, Co-Captain

 

John Horton

Union City, Michigan, USA

Computer Science

Advisor

 

John Kapenga

Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

Computer Science

Advisor

 

Nathan Kesler

Edwardsburg, Michigan, USA

Secondary Education Junior

Electrical, Education

 

 

 

 

 

CONTACTS:

 

Abraham Poot
Sunseeker Advisor
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5336
(269) 276-3372

 

 

 

 

 Sunseeker on the road to Calgary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

ORGANISATION A-Z

CAR'S NAME

TEAM NAME

Aristotle Uni of Thessaloniki, Helios

Helios

Faculty of Engineering

Arizona Solar Racing Team - USA

Arizona Solar Racing Team

Auburn University

Sol of Auburn

Sol of Auburn

Aurora Team, Australia

Aurora

Aurora Vehicle Association

Bochum Solar Car Team

Das SolarCar der Fachhochschule

California Poly S University

SLO Burn  Sidewinder

San Luis Obispo

Clarkson Uni Solar Car Team, USA

The Solar Knights

Delft University - Holland

NUNA I & II 2003

Dell Winston School

The Hunter

Solar Car Challenge

Desert Rose, Northern Territory Uni

FUJI DESERT ROSE

Drexel SunDragon Home Page

École de technologie supérieure Quebec

Eclipse V (5)

Éclipse Vehicular Solaire 

École Polytechnique de Montréal

Esteban

Eko-Auto  Poland

Eko-Auto

Electron Analytic Corporation

Dark Horse

EAC Skunkworks

George Washington University

George Washington Uni Solar Car

Georgia Institute of Technology

Solar Jackets

Solar Jackets

Heliodet, Germany

Heliodet

Heliodet, Solar Car Team

Helios - Lille, France

Hélios IV

Hautes Etudes d'Ingénieur

Honda Car Company

Honda

Illinois State University

Surya, Ratha, Mercury

Illinois State University Team

Iowa State University

Fusion

Team PrISUm

Jonasun  Japan

Orbit

Solar Car Paviion

Kansas State University

Paragon

Solar Car Racing Team

Los Altos Academy of Engineering

Los Altos Solar Car Team

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tesseract

MIT

McGill University Monteal, Canada

iSun

Team iSun

McMaster University

Phoenix

McMaster Uni Solar Car Project

Messiah College Grantham, Penns

Genesis II

Genesis II Solar Racing Team

Michigan State University

 

Solar Racing Team

Michigan Technological University

Solar Car Team

Minnesota S Uni-Mankato/Winona S Uni

Minnesota Solar Car Team

North Dakota State University

The Double Deuce

Sunsetters - Solar Race Team

Northwestern University

N'Uvation

Northwestern University

Nuon Solar Team, Netherlands

Nuon 3

Het Nuon Solar Team

Osaka Sangyo University, Japan

OSU model S

Solar Car Team

Prairie View A&M University

Solaris

Sun Panthers

Principia College

RA 6

Principia College Solar Car Team

Purdue University

SPOT 2

Purdue University Solar Racing

Queen's University Canada

Radiance  Gemini

Queen's Solar Vehicle Team

Red River College 

Red River Raycer

Red River College Solar Car Team

Rice University

Rice University

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Rose-Hulman Solar Car Team

Southern Illinois Uni Edwardsville

Cougar Cruiser

Southern Illinois University

South Bank University, UK

Mad Dog

South Bank Mad Dog Team

South Dakota School Mines & Tech

Solar Motion

South Dakota Solar Motion Team

Southern Taiwan University Tech

Southern Taiwan Solar Team

Stanford University

Solstice

Stanford Solar Car Project

Tamagawa University - Japan

Tamagawa Solar Challenge Project

Team Futura, Italy

FUTURA 2

Team Futura

Team SunLake - Japan

Phaethon model

Team SunLake TOYOBO

Texas A&M University

Columbia Sunraycer

Texas A&M Motorsports Team

The Power of One  - Toronto

Xof1

The Xof1 solar car team

Tufts University

ANNE E. B. II

Nerd Girls

University of Alberta

University of Alberta Team

University of Arizona

Drifter

Solar Racing Team

University of Calgary

 

UC Calgary Solar Car Team

University of California-Berkeley

CalSol 

California Calsol Team

University of Kansas

Solution, CATalyst

KSU Solar Car Racing Team

University of Kentucky

Gato del Sol II

Solar Car Team

University of Massachusetts 

Spirit of Mass 413

Lowell Solar Racing Team

University of Michigan

Momentum

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota

Borealis III

U of M Solar Vehicle Project

University of Missouri Columbia

Suntiger VI

The Mizzou Solar Car Project

University of Missouri Rolla

Solar Miner V

Solar Minor Car Team 

University of North Dakota

Subzero 3

Team SubZero

University of Ontario Institute of Tech

UOI Solar Vehicle Team

Uni of New South Wales SCR Team

UNSW Sunswift III

New South Wales SCR Team

University of Patras, Hermes

Solar Car Team

University of Pennsylvania

Keystone

Penn Solar Racing

University of Queensland

Sunshark

Queensland Solar Team

University of South Australia

Ned  KELLY

SA Solar Car Consortium

University of Texas at Austin

Solar Steer

Solar Vehicles Team

University of Texas at El Paso

 

Solraycers

University of Toronto

Blue Sky

Blue Sky Solar Racing

University of Toulouse

Heliotrope

Heliotrope Solar Car Team

University of Utah 

 

Vehicle Design Team Utah

University of Virginia

 

UVa Solar Car Team

University of Waterloo

Midnight Sun VIII

Midnight Sun Solar Race Team

University of Western Ontario

Sunstang

Sunstang USP Solar Car Team

USP Solar Car Team

USP Solar Car Team

Western Michigan University

Sunseeker 05

W Michigan Solar Car Team

Yale University

The John Lee

Team Lux

 

 

 

 

IF YOUR TEAM OR EVENT IS NOT LISTED HERE,  PLEASE CONTACT US.

 

 

 

 Western Michigan University - Sunseeker Solar Car Team 2001 - Repairs

 

 

 

SOLAR CAR EVENTS

 

 

American Solar Challenge

American Tour de Sol

American World Solar Challenge - Formula Sun          

Australian World Solar Challenge

Canadian Solar Discovery Challenge

Dream Cup Solar Car Race Suzuka 2003 - Japan

Japanese World Solar Car Rallye

North American Solar Challenge

Phaethon 2004

Solar Express - Solar Bike Race

Sunrayce

SunRace 2003 - Australia

World Solar Car Rally - Japan

World Solar Rallye - Japan

 

 

 

During these competitions, students learn about solar panels, electric motors, electronics, vehicle chassis, bodywork, aerodynamics, suspension, batteries and how to solve practical problems during the design process, while working as a team.  It's demanding stuff and more fun that laying in bed watching TV, where individuals may seek inspiration, but achieve very little.

 

 

 

THINKING OF BUILDING YOUR OWN SOLAR CAR?  CHECK OUT THE PAGES BELOW AS THEY COME ONLINE........

 

 

 

1. Chassis - and seating

2. Mechanics - suspension, steering, brakes

3. Motor and drive train

4. Motor controller

5. Solar Array - usually part of body

6. Batteries or fuel cells

7. Electrical System - and instruments

8. Driver Controls - switches, lighting, etc

9. Bodywork - Screen, etc

 

 

 

 

SOLAR CAR PART FINDER 

 

 

 


 

A taste for adventure

Solar Cola - a healthier alternative

 

 

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The content of this website is copyright © and design copyright 1991 and 2006 Electrick Publications and NJK. All rights reserved. The bluebird logo and name Bluebird and Blue Max are trademarks.  The BE2 and BE3 vehicle shape and configuration are registered designs ®.  All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.  Max Energy Limited is an environmental educational charity.