Sun, Steel, and Speed: University of Michigan Solar Car Team
November 27, 2025
This episode of Steel Stories takes you behind the scenes of one of the world’s toughest engineering competitions: the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Host David Kirkpatrick sits down with University of Michigan Solar Car Team members Luis Anton Mendez and Ian Baker to explore how 176 students designed, engineered, and raced a solar-powered vehicle across 3,000 kilometers of the Australian outback, powered only by the sun and their own ingenuity.
This episode of Steel Stories takes you behind the scenes of one of the world’s toughest engineering competitions: the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Host David Kirkpatrick sits down with University of Michigan Solar Car Team members Luis Anton Mendez and Ian Baker to explore how 176 students designed, engineered, and raced a solar-powered vehicle across 3,000 kilometers of the Australian outback, powered only by the sun and their own ingenuity.
From custom carbon-fiber chassis work to cutting-edge solar cells, from unexpected desert winds to the teamwork required to make split-second race decisions, this conversation captures the true spirit of innovation. Luis and Ian also share how U. S. Steel’s sponsorship helped fuel their journey and what it means to represent American engineering on a global stage.
It’s a story about creativity, grit, and what happens when students push the boundaries of renewable technology—told by two people who lived it.
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