Solar Racing Team Earns Second Place at ASNE Electric Propulsion Competition
The Stony Brook University Solar Racing Team earned an impressive second-place finish in the Budget Warriors Division at the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) Competition, held at Portsmouth City Park in Virginia with support from the Office of Naval Research.
Competing with an unmanned electric boat, the team navigated the two-mile course on the Elizabeth River while meeting the division's strict requirements, including a $1,500 budget and a 30-pound payload. Their strong performance highlighted the team's engineering expertise, creativity, and perseverance.
The road to the competition was not without challenges. Construction-related disruptions prevented the team from accessing its shop for several weeks during the design and build process, forcing students to quickly adapt their original autonomous boat design to compete in the Budget Warriors Division instead.
"This year the Solar Racing team proved to be very adaptable to institutional setbacks and delays out of their control," said faculty advisor Austin Giordano. "They rose to the occasion when they transitioned their initially planned autonomous boat to change its class to become an unmanned Budget Warrior boat, which successfully finished second in their class."
The team's second-place finish reflects the ingenuity, resilience, and collaborative spirit that define Stony Brook Mechanical Engineering students, demonstrating their ability to overcome real-world challenges while delivering innovative engineering solutions.