See this innocent-looking guy? He is Brad Leuther, Formula SAE Team Leader. He has been pushing, nagging, cajoling, even resorting to bribery (more on that below) and doing everything he can to have the '08 FSAE car operational by January 1st.
That is a critical goal because it gives the team more than three months of testing and evaluation to train drivers, refine the design and work out the bugs to become a top-tier team for '08. Kinda like the old story about the music student who asked "how do I get to Carnegie Hall?", to which an old man replied "practice, practice, practice!".
Anyway, there are tremendous benefits to having a drivable car by January 1. If they make that goal Goodyear will donate a set of new Goodyear racing tires and provide early-season access to the company's test facility somewhere in Texas. The car will also be the keystone of Missouri S&T's display at the St Louis Auto Show January 23rd-27th.

Now about that "bribery" comment. Brad apparently promised that if the car is operational by January 1st he will shave his head, don only a Speedo and cape, and run around campus in celebration. Pray for snow. We'll alert the media. And be careful what you wish for, Brad.

Shortly after we posted this blog entry the FSAE team chimed in with a more realistic photo of Brad that better reflects what he normally looks like. Think of it as a "teaser" for the Speedo run coming up soon.......
View image

Brad's parents would be SO proud.

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

The Missouri S&T media juggernaught (OK, just John and Bob) was heading toward home through Memphis, and they figured "why not"? A quick phone call to Graceland with a VERY unusual request, and they rolled out the red carpet (thanks Peggie S.) for Solar Miner IV!
Mike Gates, Graceland's Operations Manager, met the Miners at the gate, assigned them a guard to help to protect the car, and said (essentially) to "do what you want". They held up the tour buses so those famous gates could be closed for a few minutes just for unique photos. AND they want copies for their internal publications! Way cool!

You also wouldn't believe what happened while the car was being set up. An alum of Queen's College in Canada, another top solar car racing team, stopped by to chat. Then a FedEx employee responsible for clearing Solar Miner III through Customs on it's '01 trip to Australia came by to see how the car was doing. A few Dutch tourists, who also knew of solar car racing, wanted to talk about the car, and many other people stopped to see what the curious vehicle was all about. And some guy in jet black hair and flashy sunglasses also helped orient the car for just the best photo angle. Didn't catch his name, though.

To top it all off, UMR alum Zack Lawrence (Geophysics '03) stopped by to help. His wife and fellow alum Sarah Jane Krupa (Geophysics '02) heard we were in town and told Zack to come down. John presented Zack with what is probably the first MO S&T t-shirt in Tennessee. Thanks for the help, Zack!

Posted at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Solar Miner's return from the Sunshine State turned into a full-fledged media tour yesterday. While the first planned stop, a photo op with Space Shuttle Atlantis, didn't work out when the shuttle launch was delayed, things turned around in a hurry. During a fuel and lunch stop in Hamilton Alabama word got around about an exotic race (racin'?) car traversing NASCAR country, so it didn't take long for the local TV and print media to show up.

Long-time solar car technical advisor John Tyler quickly changed back into his new Missouri S&T shirt for a TV interview to talk on-camera about the great students who build and race these cars, as well as the multitude of other sophisticated design teams that flourish at UMR.
One reporter couldn't even figure out which issue to get more excited about, the solar car or the concrete canoe. Why the canoe? Because across the side of the Miners' car hauler is emblazoned UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ROLLA CONCRETE CANOE TEAM (click here for more info about concrete canoes). The CC team was kind enough to loan their boat hauler for the Miami trip while solar car's rig was being repaired. Thanks, guys!

Posted at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is so awesome. On the way back from Florida, Bob and John are going to Graceland! They plan to display the solar car in front of the gates from 3-5 p.m. today. Then the marketing folks at Graceland are going to let them park the car near the house for a photo shoot. Great work, guys! Don't forget to get your picture taken in the Jungle Room.

Update: They just crossed the Mississippi line, actually, and are running a little late. They stopped in Hamilton, Ala., and were met by local TV and radio reporters, who wanted to do a story about our world famous solar car passing through...However, Bob and John are back on the road now, making time as they head for Graceland.

Posted at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Imagine that Solar Miner IV, the Solar Car Team's 2003-2004 national champion race car came out of retirement and said "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!".

Well, that's just about what happened today. Sporting Missouri S&T's new moniker applied just for this event, Solar Miner IV was the star of a new TV commercial shot across Biscayne Bay from downtown Miami. General Motors is a major sponsor for many of UMR's student design teams, so how cool is it that SMIV was hired for a light-hearted european ad campaign for GM's stylish and practical Chevrolet Aveo?

Solar car team members Chris Pieper and Nathan Steckel thought it was VERY cool, because they (and the car) were the center of attention of a massive production crew (60+ people) running the same scenes over and over again. The pair was flown down to Miami's balmy climate for just 24 hours and hustled back to campus to prepare for final exams right after shooting was complete.

The production crew gets involved with some pretty sophisticated projects so it takes a lot to impress them, but they were falling all over themselves with curiosity about the space-ship-like vehicle and simply couldn't believe that SMIV has hit speeds of over 80mph. Chris and Nathan spent most of their down time showing the crew (and some curious onlookers) how the car works. BTW, the producers, mostly Dutch professionals, immediately caught on to the significance of car #42. Hitch-hikers Guide to the Universe, anyone?

This was a big deal. So big that the crew ran several large movie cameras, had powerful lights and reflectors set up just like the Hollywood studios, and even had Miami police stopping traffic for each of many shots.

Nathan served as the ground guide to help Chris get his angles right, and if you think these two weren't having fun then you didn't see their ear-to-ear grins when all was said and done.
Their smiles probably had nothing to do with the all-day catered lunch that was on the set, but the fresh chilled shrimp and strawberries didn't hurt, either

Last but not least, you may have noticed in many of the photos that Mo S&T's name is missing from the car. The crew carefully taped over the name (sniff!) as well as the famous #42 (ouch!). Guess they didn't want to upstage the Aveo.....................

Update: Bob just checked back in by phone. They were going to watch the Shuttle launch, but it's been scrubbed. LF

Posted at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Solar car advisor (and waterjet-operator extraordinaire) John Tyler is in Florida with one of our old solar cars, which is going to be in a European commercial for General Motors. Apparently the car got slightly shaken up on the way out there and repairs had to be done in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Fort Lauderdale. This created a curious sight for a few onlookers in the lot. Everything's fine now, according to reports, but duct tape again proves why it is the most important invention in the modern era (narrowly edging out velcro). The commercial shoot will take place with a backdrop of the Miami skyline. We hear the solar car has been outfitted with fancy new Missouri S&T logos and looks great. A few students are flying out there as we speak to help out with the commercial. Be sure to look for our solar car in the GM commercial next time you are watching television in Bulgaria or Luxembourg.
Oh yeah, it was 78 degrees and clear when they got there.

Once the photo shoot is over the Solar Miner crew will pause to observe a space shuttle launch and may go on a photo tour of southern cultural shrines. Now if we can just get permission to unload the car in front of Graceland...............

Posted at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)