Groningen to participate in Solar Challenge

On 4 July 2010, the Frisian Solar Challenge, the ‘ World Cup for Solar Powered Boats ’ , will begin in Leeuwarden.

For the third time, a Solar team from Groningen will enter the arena, facing dozens of Solar teams from across the world.

The Solar Team Groningen is a collaboration between the University of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, the Praedinius Gymnasium secondary school and the Noorderpoortcollege regional education centre. Students from these knowledge institutions will participate with two solar boats: the AquaNova in the A Class and the new solar boat in the Top Class.

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences will provide the project with its scientific prowess. Students and a scientist from Industrial Engineering and Management are researching solar boat propulsion and energy storage, while students and a professor from Applied Mechanics and Numerical Mathematics are studying the hydromechanics. Artificial Intelligence is also on the team. In addition, two pilots with a technical scientific background will drive the extremely advanced and speedy solar race boat. An IVEM PhD student, who is also a lecturer at Hanze University, is in charge of the technical coordination.