TASC: Stanford Solar Car Project

TASC: Technology and Society Committee

Nathan Hall-Snyder

Stanford Solar Car Project

Founded in 1989, the Stanford Solar Car Project is an entirely student-run, non-profit organization fueled by its members' passion for environmentally sustainable technology. Since its founding, the Project has built 9 generations of solar cars ranging from the SunSurfer to the most recent car, the Apogee. The Project provides a unique opportunity for Stanford students to gain valuable hands-on engineering and business experience while raising community awareness of clean energy vehicles.

Earlier this summer, the car and its team completed the 2010 American Solar Challenge, a competition to design, build and race solar-powered cars in a four- stage cross-continental race from Oklahoma to Illinois, winning the final stage and coming in 4th overall. Apogee was built with a fairly aggressive stance towards innovation and includes more homemade electronics and more refined mechanical systems than any previous Stanford car.

Nathan Hall-Snyder, the current Apogee team lead and mechanical wizard, will describe what technologies go into a solar car, the major design challenges of high-efficiency vehicles, and how an automotive industry open to the potential of solar power could help our ailing planet in the future.

LUNCH AT THE HANGEN SZECHUAN RESTAURANT

134 CASTRO STREET MOUNTAIN VIEW

Tuesday August 10th at 11:45 AM