We just found this at that You Tube place. Thought you might want to see the formula car in action again.

Posted at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jerrod Bouchard just dropped by the world headquarters of Experience This (the world headquarters is located in a Campus Support Facility office that used to be a cubicle) to give us an update on his attempt to break the human-powered speed record in October. As you might recall, Jerrod is a member of UMR's awesome Human-Powered Vehicle Team. Along with a few other team members, he's currently designing a new vehicle that, he hopes, will allow him to go faster than 62 mph. The record-breaking attempt will take place at Battle Mountain, Nev.

But first, the vehicle must be completed in time for Jerrod to get some serious training in. He's planning to take the bike to Boston soon to test it in a wind tunnel at MIT. Apparently he made some useful contacts last summer when he attended the MIT Design Summit.

Also, Jerrod would probably be too proud to ask for donations, but we're not proud at all and we think he deserves the support. It's going to cost a certain amount of money to finish the bike and get to Nevada and back. While some funds are available for the effort, it would be nice to get a few donations or small sponsorships. If you're interested, send us an email, leave a comment or contact the Student Design and Experiential Learning Center.

P.S. Barry Bonds and many cyclists participating in the Tour de France are probably on the juice along with all of those crazy professional wrestlers, but we're pretty sure Jerrod is clean.

Posted at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(We totally stole this post from Visions, which is OK because we totally wrote it last summer...)

One day, you might be able to buy your very own version of a UMR solar house. Dr. Stuart Baur, advisor to the UMR Solar House Team, says he gets inquiries from people all the time about buying one of the university's solar houses or at least purchasing the plans. With this in mind, Baur is interested in partnering with a company that sells manufactured homes. Because UMR's houses have to be capable of quick assembly, they are constructed in units and are put together a lot like quality manufactured homes. Baur imagines rows of solar houses in a futuristic trailer park, where none of the residents have to worry about utility bills. Meanwhile, UMR is building its own solar village near campus.

Posted at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)