October 11, 2026 | Team Updates  By Cal DeWitt

This week, the Capital Solar Car team took another important step toward designing and building our solar-powered race car for the 2027 Solar Car Challenge!

We started our meeting by diving into one of the most important aspects of our car's design: driver safety. The team reviewed the Solar Car Challenge's safety and design requirements, focusing on the roll bar, safety cell, and crush zones. We discussed how these components work together to protect the driver and how the competition's rules will shape our design decisions.

Next, we put our ideas into action! Using measurements from our drivers, students worked together to construct a full-scale mock-up of the safety cell using foam boards. This hands-on exercise helped us better visualize the space our drivers will need and how the safety cell might fit into the overall vehicle design. It was a great opportunity to turn measurements and sketches into something we could actually see and evaluate.

We wrapped up the meeting by experimenting with SolidWorks, a computer-aided design (CAD) program used by professional engineers. This proved to be our biggest challenge of the day! Students encountered technical difficulties getting SolidWorks to work properly on certain devices, and even some seemingly simple design tasks turned out to be surprisingly complicated. We're now considering whether another CAD platform might be a better fit for our team.

But perhaps that was one of the most valuable lessons of the day: engineering is just as much about troubleshooting, adapting, and learning from setbacks as it is about getting things right the first time. Real engineering rarely follows a perfectly straight path, and sometimes the best solution is to rethink your approach.

As we continue moving from sketches to physical models and eventually to a working solar car, we're learning that teamwork, patience, and creative problem-solving are every bit as important as technical skills.

Another productive week for Capital Solar Car — and another step closer to Texas in July 2027!

October 4, 2026 | Team Updates  By Cal DeWitt

Our second Capital Solar Car meeting was all about taking our first steps from learning how a solar car works to figuring out what our own car might look like.

We started the meeting with our mechanical engineer introducing the team to some fundamental engineering concepts. Students learned about free-body diagrams and the forces that will act on our car as it travels down the road. We also began exploring aerodynamics, including the basic formula engineers use to calculate drag--which will be so important to getting the most out of the limited energy available from our solar array and batteries.

Then it was time to put some of those ideas to work.

Students first worked independently, sketching their own ideas for the basic layout and major elements of the car. We then brought everyone back together to compare the different concepts, discuss their advantages and disadvantages, and collaborate on a preliminary design.

By the end of the session, we had our first ideas down on pencil and paper! There is still plenty to work out, but this represents an exciting first step toward turning a collection of ideas into an actual solar-powered vehicle. Our goal for next week is to begin moving those concepts from paper toward CAD design, where we can start developing and refining the car more precisely.

The team also made important progress on the business side of the project. Under the guidance of our marketing mentor, our lead marketing team member developed an initial plan covering our messaging, target audiences, marketing strategy, and sponsorship materials. He presented his ideas to the entire team, giving everyone a chance to understand how we will begin telling the Capital Solar Car story and building the community and sponsor support needed to get our car to the track.

It was a productive meeting that brought together two very different—but equally important—parts of this project: engineering the car and building the organization that will make it possible.

We left with preliminary sketches on paper, a marketing plan taking shape, and a lot to build on next week. The design process has officially begun.

September 27, 2026 | Team Updates  By Cal DeWitt

This week, the Capital Solar Car team took some exciting steps toward our goal of designing, building, and racing our very own solar-powered car!

We kicked off the meeting with introductions, giving team members a chance to get to know one another and meet our mechanical and electrical engineering mentors. Our mentors bring valuable real-world engineering experience to the team and will help guide us through the challenges of designing and building a competitive solar car.

Making Our First Design Decisions

With introductions complete, we dove into the engineering side of the project! We reviewed some of the major design choices that will shape our car, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches, and made several of our first design decisions.

These early discussions are an important part of the engineering process. Every decision, from the car's mechanical design to its electrical systems, will affect how efficiently and reliably our car performs on the track.

Building Our Team Beyond the Workshop

Building a solar car takes more than engineering skills! We also spent time discussing our team's marketing and sponsorship strategy.

We explored ways to promote Capital Solar Car, connect with our community, and attract sponsors who can help make our racing ambitions a reality. Sponsorships will play an important role in providing the resources we need to bring our design to life.

Getting Hands-On With CAD

After the end of the format meeting, a few of us stuck around and practiced using computer-aided design (CAD) software. We learned that we have a lot to learn about CAD.

CAD is an essential engineering tool that allows us to create digital models of our components before we manufacture them.

What's Next?

We're just getting started! With our team coming together, our first design decisions underway, and our CAD skills beginning to develop, we're laying the foundation for an exciting year of engineering, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Stay tuned as we turn our ideas into designs, our designs into real components, and eventually, those components into a solar-powered race car!

Follow along as Capital Solar Car works toward the 2027 Solar Car Challenge!