The Long Beach Poly High School Solar Cup team is, front row from left, adviser Tamara Araya, adviser Gregory Pepek, Eric Israel, William Stringer, Tijana Temelkovska, Leslie Chacon, Hailey Vogel, Evette Marasigan, Rebekah Garcia, Andrew Tee and Perla Gonzalez; second row from center, Chris Korkos, Dylan Martinez, Lee Puckett, Gaspar Garcia and Alex Johnson; and, third row, Jack Hazan.
6:35pm | A team of students from Long Beach Poly High School placed second overall and winning a number of individual category awards at a Southern California solar-powered boat race last weekend.
The group of 15 students were pitted against 40 other teams from cities located within the Metropolitan Water District’s service area at the MWD’s ninth annual Solar Cup Boat Race Competition held at Lake Skinner in Temecula Valley May 14 and 15.
Besides its overall second place win, the team earned several other awards, including first place in the region for the sprint race, first place in the region for the 90-minute endurance race, first place overall for written its technical reports and second place in the region for a water conservation Public Service Announcement it created as part of the competition’s requirements.
The competition involves a seven-month program that culminates in the races. During the months leading up to the competition, the students designed and built the solar-powered boat they raced in last weekend, The program allows participating students to learn about conservation of natural resources and electrical and mechanical engineering as well as improve their problem-solving skills.
Despite a few mechanical and electrical problems that arose with the boat minutes before and during the races, the team, thanks to its months of training and testing, was able to make quick decisions and adjustments to help it remain competitive.
“The team worked together like a well oiled machine to make necessary decisions at the drop of a hat,” said Gregory Pepek, one of the team’s two advisers. “The students took real time data from our boat during the races and analyzed it with tests we had completed during the previous months and were able to then deliver the information to our driver so she could conserve our limited amount of energy.
“It was really amazing to watch,” Pepek said,
The team’s other adviser is Tamara Araya, and the Long Beach Water Department served as the team’s sponsor.