I'm baaaaaack

7 years seems long enough, no?

20,000 Leagues Pop-Up Book

After reading the Boing Boing post (10/23/2008) about a new 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea pop-up book being published, I took it upon myself to find the one I remember from growing up

My most treasured book from my childhood was a pop-up version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. My incessant reading of it led to long-lasting obsessions with: submarines (sated with frequent visits to the U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago); octopi, preferably of the gigantic variety (never really sated, but I once got a nice rubber octopus toy from Sea World); the Lost Continent of Atlantis, and whirlpools. So I visited the used-book stalwarts of the Internet, and finally found a copy, in pristine condition no less, at some tiny Canadian place online. I paid whatever it was they asked, including that crazy VAT stuff. And now I read it to my kids, share it with them, and keep it on a shelf where it can survive for them to read to their kids.

Model A Club

One of the fun things about being on a solar car team were the opportunities for outreach. Mostly this means taking the car to a school and explaining solar power, the benefits of an engineering education, or some such. But on occasion, you had groups of adults. In this case, the Central Iowa Model A Club drive their vintage Model A's to Ames one sunny day and pulled right into the parking lot next to our garage in Old Sweeney Hall. They got the nickel tour of the facilities and whatever car we were working on at the time (PrISUm Cynergy, our Sunrayce 95 car, most likely). And then I got a free t-shirt!

National Road Solar Car Rally

Sometime in 1998 (I think?) I participated in a small race called the "National Road Solar Car Rally." This event was mostly arranged by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a venerable solar car team. They were joined by Ohio State, with observers from Purdue University's team tagging along. I got asked to come as something of an official, even though it was mostly the teams who kept the timing, etc.

U.S. 40 apparently has a long history as a road, hence the designation as the "National Road." This race went from Terre Haute, Indiana (Rose-Hulman's home), through Ohio, and ended in Wheeling, West Virginia. Or maybe it was the reverse...anyway, it was a good time, with a scenic route. At the end, we arranged an impromptu pit stop competition, to see how long it would take the teams to change tires, change drivers, and maybe a few other things. Good times.

PrISUm Phoenix '99 team shirt

As an alum of this school and this team, it was so gratifying to see them finish a solid 5th place in Sunrayce 99 (best finish ever for Iowa State). The car was fantastic, the team was polished, and their "Phoenix" logo looked great. I was lucky enough to snag a team shirt. It was tough trying not to be biased on this race!!

Mizzou '99 shirt

The University of Missouri - Columbia ("Mizzou") was a good competitor in many races. They had a built in rival with cross-state University of Missouri - Rolla also competing in many of the same events, and in the case of Sunrayce 99, winning the whole shebang.

I remember some, if not most, of the "Sun Tiger" cars had a little stuffed tiger tail trailing from the back of their car, which was a nice touch.

Solar Bike Rayce 98

Solar Bike Rayce was an off-shoot of Sunrayce, the solar car competition for college students. In Solar Bike Rayce, high school students competed on a closed track with a modified bicycle, making it both safer and cheaper to compete. The competitors would be good cyclists, but could tap into the solar panel and battery pack for bursts of speed or at least maintenance of speed while they rested their legs.

Some of the sample people that organized Sunrayce would help put on Solar Bike Rayce events on the off years, or whenever. I got to see it just once, but was impressed with the teams. It looked like a lot of fun.