McDougle Middle Students Get Sneak Peak of Solar Car

A group of NC State students are in the process of building a solar-powered car to compete in the World Solar Challenge in Australia next October.

Several of those students brought their work-in-progress to McDougle Middle School earlier this month and fielded questions on the car from eager students.

One of those from NC State working on the vehicle was Elton Padua, part of the vehicle dynamics team, who says he hopes to work in the automotive industry after college.

“To see it all put together, it kind of makes you realize that you are building a solar car,” says Padua. “You are putting something feasible together. It’s not just a concept.”

Padua says that working with solar energy is a good way to get a foot in the door of the automotive industry.

“The way that the industry is going, they’re focusing more on electric cars,” says Padua. “So I figured doing a solar car is a good way to expose me to engineering practices and problem solving.”

Padua attended McDougle in sixth grade before moving to Durham.

Jamie West, the principal intern at McDougle, says that she hopes this kind of teamwork can rub off on her own students.

“These students have talked to them a lot about how they collaborate together and how they’re working as a team for this big goal,” says West. “That is something our school is also promoting, that collaborative spirit between the students to reach a common goal.

The eighth grade students at McDougle will be making their own smaller model solar cars later this year, according to West.