CUER students were delighted to be able to hold another series of Solar Buggy workshops yesterday for groups of school pupils visiting the University. Around 80 pupils participated in the events which were held at St Catharine’s College, and supported by the University’s 2009 Fund. The workshops allow pupils to design their own model solar car and encourage them to think about everything from aerodynamics to wheel size, in order to build the most efficient and ultimately the fastest car. Despite the less than ideal March sun, the teams’ impressive designs were surprisingly fast and we hope that all had fun whilst learning a little about solar power.

It is as yet uncertain whether the kids or the CUER lot had more fun with this! Certainly the competition between team members was fierce, and prompted the creation of the Outreach Cup, to be awarded at the end of the year to the team member with the most outreach wins.

Scandal abounded when one team member - Hannah who will remain unnamed – was discovered cheating by using TWO solar cells instead of the allotted one! Charges were later dropped (pun intended) when it was revealed that the wiring up was of such poor quality that the advantage was negated. The eventual winners were Lucy’s team, with the aptly named Eco-Slap.

- Emma

For more information about our Solar Buggy Workshop, please email outreach@cuer.co.uk