Tag: Racing the Sun

(Tucson, Arizona) On Saturday, April 29, 2023, SARSEF will be hosting Racing the Sun- Race Day where students from 15 Southern Arizona High Schools will race their solar-powered go-karts they designed and built themselves through SARSEF’s Racing the Sun program.

The event is a part of SARSEF’s year-round high school engineering programs and will take place at Musselman Honda Circuit (11800 S Harrison Rd, Tucson, AZ 85747) on April 29, 2023, from 12pm-3pm.

Racing the Sun is a hands-on, innovative engineering program that challenges high school students to design, build, and race electric and solar-powered go-karts. Racing the Sun is a college preparatory program available to any Arizona high school.  

Working with teachers, mentors and industry professional advisors, students spend nine months preparing for Race Day. Along the way, they apply the principles of physics, engineering, and energy. Through collaborative efforts with school sites and educators, race teams solve real-world problems, using mathematical, analytical, and critical thinking skills. Students work in teams and are challenged to translate their ideas into a working prototype and build leadership excellence skills.

The event will include hundreds of students and teachers, families, volunteers, as well exhibitors from organizations throughout the state encouraging careers in STEM and providing hands-on activities to the students. For the first time ever, we also have an all-girls team called The Thunder Sisters from Mica Mountain High School.

“I am thrilled to coach an all-girls Racing the Sun Team,” Derek Langley, Mica Mountain High School Teacher, shared. “I believe that any exposure to STEM in K-12 for young women will help increase the number of women who enter STEM fields. This all-girls team will give these women confidence in any future career, especially if they pursue engineering.”

Event Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023

Event Time: 12pm-3pm

Event Location: Musselman Honda Circuit, 11800 S Harrison Rd, Tucson, AZ 85747

About SARSEF:

SARSEF was formed in 1955 in an effort to increase student interest in the field of science. The mission of SARSEF is to engage Arizona’s Pre-K-12 grade students in critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they participate in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through inquiry-based learning and research.

SARSEF accomplishes this mission through a variety of programming including a high school mentoring program, the STAR Lab, SARSEF Fair Week, educational outreach programs with an emphasis on underrepresented populations in the sciences, teacher professional development, ACES Camp for Middle School girls, Racing the Sun, and Arizona STEM Adventure.

To learn more about SARSEF programs and how students, teachers, and families can get involved, visit sarsef.org

Media Contact:

Yvonne Pysher, Director of Marketing and Communications

SARSEF

(520) 525-5230

yvonne@sarsef.org

DOWNLOAD PDF OF PRESS RELEASE & MEDIA ALERT

Congratulations to all the teams who participated in this year’s Racing the Sun (RTS), an engineering program that challenges high school students to design, build, and race solar-powered go-karts.

Working with teachers and mentors, students spent nine months preparing for Race Day. Along the way, they applied physics, engineering, and energy. They solved real-world problems, using mathematical, analytical, and critical thinking skills, and worked in teams to collaborate on ideas. They were all challenged to translate their ideas into a working prototype, and along the way, they built leadership skills!

Participating Schools: Blue Ridge High School, Center for Academic Success, Mica Mountain High School, Peoria High School, Salpointe Catholic High School, Shadow Ridge High School, Sonoran Science Academy, Tanque Verde High School, Tucson High Magnet High School, and Wilcox High School.

Racing the Sun Results

Grand Champion (Legacy)

Grand Champion (Maker)

Innovation (Legacy)

Salpointe Catholic High School: Salpointe Legacy

Innovation (Maker)

First: Tucson High Magnet School: Mecha Badgers

Second: Blue Ridge High School: Blue Ridge

Engineering Tenacity Award

Mica Mountain High School: MMHS Racing the Sun

Oral Presentations

First: Shadow Ridge High School: Solar Stallions

First: Center for Academic Success: Bear Metal

Second: Salpointe Catholic High School: Salpointe Maker

Bending the Rules

Sonoran Science Academy- Davis Monthan: Chaos Cerberus

Spirit Award

Center for Academic Success: Bear Metal

Coach of the Year

Eric Bennett with Shadow Ridge High School

Press Release – PDF

May 7, 2021

(Tucson, AZ) After two years of waiting, high school students from across the state participating in SARSEF’s Racing the Sun finally had their day to race the solar-powered go-karts they designed and built as teams with the help of their coaches and community mentors.

On April 24, 56 high school students gathered at Musselman Honda Circuit to evaluate their karts for safety and race. Due to the pandemic, Race Day 2020 was canceled, and so this year’s Race Day included Karts from both school years.

Nine teams from six schools competed at Race Day 2021. Teams were evaluated on the presentation of their design and build process, participation throughout the school year, and the performance of their kart during the race.

Students raced both standard and maker go-karts. Standard karts use a pre-fabricated steel frame chassis, while maker karts are for teams who build the kart from the ground up. At this year’s competition, Blue Ridge High School in Pinetop, AZ used the tail end of a helicopter as a lightweight chassis on their maker kart.

The Grand Champion of Racing the Sun 2021 was Salpointe High School’s Standard Kart. The Innovation Award went to Blue Ridge High School’s Maker Kart.

In the Standard Kart Division, the Efficiency Award went to Tanque Verde Solar Flares with Salpointe High School in second place. The Endurance Award went to Center for Academic Success with Tanque Verde Solar Flares in second place. The Speed Award went to Center for Academic Success with Salpointe High School in second place.

In the Maker Kart Division, the Efficiency Award went to Salpointe High School with Blue Ridge High School in second place. The Endurance Award went to Shadow Ridge High School with Center for Academic Success in second place. The Speed Award went to Shadow Ridge High School with Salpointe High School in second place.

After an exciting ending to a long season, teams are already signing up to join the program for the 2021-2022 school year. For more information on how to start a team or get involved, contact SARSEF’s Chief Program Officer, Brooke Meyer, at brooke@sarsef.org.