JOIN USA team of students from R V College of Engineering (RVCE) in the city, is ready to set the tracks on fire at the World Solar Challenge in Australia to be held from October 18 to 25, 2015.
The team comprises 20 students from various branches of engineering and has started work on their solar-powered car. The competition involves a 3,000-km race from Darwin to Adelaide using only solar power as fuel.
The college principal B S Satyanarayana said that the projet was an entirely student-driven initiative while the college only guided them.
The students have just finished the designs for the car and will now begin the actual work on its manufacturing. While some of the components are being developed by the students, they need industrial help for others.
The estimated cost for building the car is Rs two crore. Satyanarayana said that RVCE has allocated a special pool of funds, about Rs 60 crore, for student initiatives that add to their learning experience. While the college will pitch in a section of the estimated cost, the students themselves will raise the rest of the money by approaching various companies for sponsors. Some companies have come forward and the students are looking forward to more aid to fine tune their design.
The principal added, “We have included ‘experiential learning’ as part of the course and hence we encourage students to take up these initiatives. Our aim is to see that annually at least 10 per cent of our students become entrepreneurs and not mere job seekers.”