Blue Sky Solar Racing

CAGIS - Last year, we led our annual CAGIS (Canadian Association for Girls In Science) workshop with the namesake partner, enriching students age 5-16 with hands-on, sustainability-inspired projects. In 2024, participating students worked on solar glasses and a solar oven in sessions led by the female technical leads of the team. Noticing some competing solar teams using sails to further improve vehicle efficiency, on May 24th of this year, we held an event in the classrooms of Bahen where teams of parents and students built and raced there own sail-powered cars given cardboard, small wheels, popsicle sticks and hot glue. Afterwards, teams got to compete their vehicles by running there vehicle in a large fan to compete for speed, distance, and obstacle clearance. Feedback from parents was very positive, with many parents invested as much as their pupils. Attendees were also given a tour of our workshop which was met with great enthusiasm to see our solar-powered vehicle.

Formula Sun Grand Prix - Another major accomplishment this year has been our entry into the Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 with an exceptionally competitive vehicle. Despite a newcomer team, our team was able to rapidly finish all stages of scrutineering, reflecting positively both on our extensive vehicle weight management program and hitting under our target design weight of 205 kg (actual weight of vehicle was 204.2 kg) and good dynamic handling of the car. This validating experience strengthened our knowledge base in designing for exceptional vehicle dynamics. While unfortunately our race was cut short because of a fault in our motor controller, the team and alumni acknowledge Aurora is fundamentally a strong vehicle with our plan this year to refine the electrical system further to prepare for a strong showing in 2026.