{"id":78206,"date":"2022-08-15T14:11:49","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T19:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=78206"},"modified":"2022-08-15T14:24:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T19:24:52","slug":"solar-car-club-loses-west-campus-headquarters-after-negotiations-failed-with-ku-mechanical-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2022\/08\/15\/solar-car-club-loses-west-campus-headquarters-after-negotiations-failed-with-ku-mechanical-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Car club loses West Campus headquarters after negotiations failed with KU mechanical engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The University of Kansas Solar Car club lost its West Campus headquarters. The club said in a news release<\/a> it\u2019s coming to an uncertain future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, the mechanical engineering department offered strict stipulations to Solar Car<\/a> in order to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix<\/a>. The stipulations withdrew space allocation and liability insurance support provided by the University as of July 31. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Ottinger, Solar Car operation director, said the club found itself in a tough situation after its adviser, Thomas Deagostino, left KU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey kind of threatened us by saying we need to reach some stipulations in order to compete,\u201d Ottinger said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Friis, mechanical engineering department chair, cited safety concerns when asked why the department did not approve Solar Car\u2019s participation in the formula initially. Friis said in an email to the Open Kansan that the stipulations are \u201cdesigned to help ensure safety and appropriate oversight of the team.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the stipulations include terms regarding safety training and professional supervision, they also effectively withdraw space allocation and liability insurance support from KU by the end of July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7       Solar Car \u201cwill not be supported by the mechanical engineering department or the School of Engineering through space allocation or insurance coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7       Solar Car must find a licensed professional engineer to oversee the electrical system development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7       Solar Car must have an adviser to supervise the mechanical engineering side of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7       Solar Car must undergo EHS Power Hand Tools and Electrical Safety training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7       Solar Car would be removed from its facility in West Campus after July 31. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repercussions of the new stipulation and uncertainty:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis Nguyen, a Solar Car director, said he estimated additional expenses of around $14,000 due to the stipulation to rent a new warehouse, buy liability insurance and cover racing expenses. However, he said the consequences are not only financial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s assume we find insurance, we find space, again, that\u2019s going to be a huge sinkhole,\u201d Nguyen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KU withdrawing support may affect Solar Car\u2019s recruitment as the club comprises upperclassmen who will be graduating soon, Nguyen said. The club will need an additional 30 members to build a new car and maintain operations next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the mechanical engineering department\u2019s approval, Solar Car won\u2019t be able to join races, Nguyen said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mechanical engineering department must sign a team agreement form in order for Solar Car to join races, Nguyen said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t give us insurance, in a way, they\u2019re not loving us,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to sign the team agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stipulation did not mention whether the department would sign team agreements for future races.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar Car may no longer receive funding from the School of Engineering, although the stipulation did not discuss future funding from the school, Nguyen said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friis did not comment on whether the department will sign the forms permitting Solar Car to race in future formulas or if the School of Engineering will provide future funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cResources are limited,\u201d Friis said in the email. \u201cStudents who want to be active and earn professional skills to complement their engineering education have several other student organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Panethiere, an engineering professor who was an adviser for Solar Car, said in a text message obtained by the Open Kansan that he will no longer support the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mechanical engineering department \u201cis not going to support the solar car anymore,\u201d Panethiere said. \u201cAnything in the future will not be sanctioned by KU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The KU Solar Car team finished its car while the Formula Sun Grand Prix race was ongoing. KU withdrew all support from the club starting in July, leaving Solar Car with no campus space to operate and no adviser.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About the club and team members\u2019 feelings:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Club members worked hard to build the car but were met by disappointment from KU, Ottinger said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nguyen, who has been in the club since 2019, said the club has a total of 30 members and was formed in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very exciting,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to do \u2013 a lot of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solar Car club ran late on finishing the car, but the team finished the car while the formula race was ongoing and raced in one lap, Ottinger said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pulled an all-nighter the night of last day,\u201d Ottinger said. \u201cI was doing so much stuff that I couldn\u2019t fall asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ottinger is currently transitioning into an operations director position for the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWalking into a director position, I feel betrayed from KU,\u201d Ottinger said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Kansas Solar Car club lost its West Campus headquarters. The club said in a news release it\u2019s coming to an uncertain future.  In September, the mechanical engineering department offered strict stipulations to Solar Car in order to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix. The stipulations withdrew space allocation and liability insurance support provided by the University as of July 31.  Alex Ottinger, Solar Car operation director, said the club found itself in a tough situation after its adviser, Thomas Deagostino, left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22928,"featured_media":78213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Solar-Car-Team.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78206"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78217,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78206\/revisions\/78217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}