Sockeye was our 4th car, it was our first full composite car, and it was one of our hardest technical challenges. We had decided to build the car as close to the collegiate American Solar Challenge (ASC) specs as possible, limiting quite a few things. Most notable was the solar array, 2023 and 2024 ASC regulations limited the solar array to 4 square meters, whereas The Solar Car Challenge (SCC) allowed up to 9 square meters. Following ASC regulations, we created what was in its time our most efficient car, but our most power starved car ever. Racing in SCC would be a massive optimization problem, but through adversity comes learning…

In September 2022 we began the design work for Sockeye. By then we had set the goals for the car:

1. Build our first single body design (as opposed to a catamaran or overhead array design)

2. Design as close to ASC Specifications as possible, including the 4 square meter array

3. Create our first ever fully composite build

While this was a large task, the 2022-2023 iteration of our team was one of the largest in our history, and very competent at the task, and by the time December had rolled around, we were closing in on the design of the aeroshell, as well as the chassis and suspension. Meanwhile the electrical team was working on the battery as well as the low voltage control systems. To add more to the task list, the solar array production was about to get started. Meanwhile, logistics and fundraising members were working to raise funds and set in motion plans for the targeted 2023 Solar Car Challenge, which would be the first cross country race in our team history.

As winter progressed, we made more progress on mechanical systems, but perhaps most importantly, the aeroshell. The Sockeye aeroshell was a prepreg carbon fiber molded aeroshell, made on a custom mold generously subsidized by Janicki Industries. The mechanical team got to work sanding and prepping the mold for the layup. Meanwhile as winter turned to spring, the electrical team manufactured the solar array, with extra care due to the reduced size of the array, and the exceedingly intricate telemetry system was programmed and troubleshooted. As we closed in on the final product, it was almost time to ship the car down to Texas, and testing became a regular occurrence as we tried to nail down problems and get an idea of how the car ran.

Unfortunately, a few days before we left, we got the news that due to an unfortunate circumstance with logistics, the team would not be able to take part in the race. This was a complete shock to everyone, and the morale of our team took quite a hit. Instead of racing in 2023, we did a mini race simulation, and then began prep work for the 2024 Solar Car Challenge.

The new year did bring on new opportunities though: time to optimize strategy and fix issues regarding the telemetry system. We would need the time, with the end of the 2022-2023 season, we would lose our entire strategy team, at a time when strategy was crucial to properly run the energy starved car.

While the 2023-2024 season did not feature as many visible upgrades, it had some extremely important steps. The mechanical team optimized the brakes and suspension,  and made tweaks to the aerodynamics. Electrical and software teams pushed forward during that year, spending countless hours troubleshooting the notoriously unreliable telemetry system till it functioned perfectly. Excitingly, a few members pushed forward a new tech for our team: custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) to replace the old perfboards we used. This would set the groundwork for future electrical projects and advances.

Perhaps most importantly, in the leadup to the 2024 Solar Car Challenge, a few underclassmen completely rebuilt our strategy system from the ground up. The problem they solved? How to win a race with less than half the solar panel area available. With over a month and a half of testing efficiency at every possible speed, and utilizing the elaborate telemetry system, as well as a race result and competitive analysis calculator we built, we were ready to take on the 2024 Solar Car Challenge.

Arriving at the Texas Motor Speedway for the first time in 2 years, with an energy starved car, we knew that nothing less than perfect race execution would allow us to have a chance, especially against one of the best cars that the other teams have built in the last few years. Clearing through scrutineering, we only faced issues around battery placement and egress, but both were solved with some clever engineering, and soon it was time for the race.

The 2024 race was the closest our team has ever had, facing off against teams with more than double our solar array size, leading to a massive mismatch in available energy. Ending Day 1 only 4.5 miles ahead of the 2nd place challenger, and due to the small solar array, we could only drain the battery by around 40% each day to start with a full charge. We were understandably very nervous, and things would only get worse on Day 2.

Day 2 would cause a lot of chaos for the team, Challenge mandated heat protocols forced teams to swap drivers more often. Additionally, the telemetry system started to glitch, and an hour later, it completely ceased functioning, leaving our strategy team to run blind, trusting the models. Around midday, the heat got worse. Fearing a cancellation of the race day and getting penalized for not taking the mandatory lunch break, we decided to pit at the worst possible time during a time when the track was practically empty. After half an hour we got back on track, but were unable to fix the telemetry system, so we would try to finish the day blind. As a final gut punch from Day 2, with 45 minutes of racing to go, Sockeye came to a halt on turn 2, apparently disabled. After about 10 minutes of troubleshooting, the driver realized it was the fuse, and Sockeye was able to drive off the track under the its own power, but that would end the racing day for us. Now nearly 15 miles down, we would need to operate perfectly on Day 3 to take the lead back, and to make it worse we were heading into a full sun day, giving advantage to the larger arrayed cars.

Day 3 was the day we struck back, a fresh night of sleep and some extra energy due to the off-track time on Day 2 let us run FAST through the Texas heat. All the teams in our division ran fast all day, but our strategy team had figured out how to use the track and energy to our advantage, and with some clever energy management and track positioning, we clawed back the miles hour after hour, starting the day almost 15 miles back, and ending the day almost 10 miles ahead, outpacing the larger cars even in the full sun.

Day 4, the final day, was just as we’d hoped and planned for: completely overcast. We had the lead, and without sun to power the larger cars, we also had an advantage heading into the day with the smaller and more efficient Sockeye. While we started out conservative in our pace, as the day went on we upped our pace as we had more than 50% battery left with an hour and a half before the early cutoff due to expected rain. Coming into the pit at the end, we did it. We had completed the race, and won the division, with less than half of the allowed solar area.

Despite us not being able to go to 2023 Solar Car Challenge, and the extremely tight 2024 Challenge, we had learned so much through this car, and had pushed our understanding of design, composites, electrical engineering, and strategy to new heights. This ending was also bittersweet, as with many of the team's members graduating, and a lack of logistics, the team was unsure if it would continue in the new year. But as we know now, the learnings and grit from this car would continue in the next iteration of the team, in one of our darkest hours.

Our Sockeye car was transferred at the end of 2024 to the new University of Washington Solar Vehicle Team, and competed in the 2025 American Solar Car Challenge