The SunStang Solar Car Project is an entirely student-run project at Western University that builds solar cars to participate in international solar races. The Solar Car Project has not been active in the recent years, but has sent cars to the World Solar Challenge in 1993, 1996, 2005, and 2007. In the winter of 2012, a group of current Western students restarted the SunStang project in hopes of competing once again and reviving with SunStang legacy. The current team will be returning to the Formula Sun Grand Prix in Pennsylvania at the end of July 2015. The team is made up of students from varying faculties including Engineering and the Richard Ivey School of Business.
The team is run by a strong, cohesive group of mechanical, electrical and business directors. Most students involved with SunStang have no experience in fabrication, design or management when they join. Within a few months of working on the team, they learn the key skills needed to work on new projects and designs for our vehicle. There is no replacement for the type of experience students can have when learning hands on.
The project was conceived in 1991 as an honors research project and within two years saw its first competition in the 1993 World Solar Challenge.
In 1995 Western entered the SunRayce, in Indianapolis. SunStang designed and built a completely new car to tackle this challenge. SunStang finished 21st overall and was the second rookie team to finish.
After SunRayce, the dedicated SunStang team spent seven months redesigning and manufacturing a new car for the first, and only, Canadian Solar Discovery Challenge. The race went from London Ontario, to Montreal, Quebec. The dedication and invested hours paid off for Western when SunStang came out a victor from the race.
Encouraged from their last success, SunStang set out to design a car for the 1996 World Solar Challenge. The team finished 2nd out of the North American teams and 12th overall in the world. This is SunStang’s greatest accomplishment to date.
Adding to SunStang’s achievements, the team was awarded the spirit award in the 1997 Sunrayce competition. Since then, SunStang has participated in the 2005 and 2007 World Solar Challenges.
The name SunStang combines solar energy with Western University’s mascot, the Mustang.