Dell Corp. (Round Rock, TX) announced that more than 90 high school students from New York to Mexico embarked on a 1,500-mile race in hand-built, solar-powered cars. The eighth annual Dell-Winston Solar Car Challenge, which begins at Dell's headquarters, will wind its way through Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, en route to the finish line in Cocoa, FL. The five teams have been preparing for the competition nearly 18 months.
Dell is the national sponsor of the educational program. The students are from Ridgway, CO; Columbus, IN; Newburgh, NY; Houston, MS; and Juarez, Mexico. The nine-day race will conclude at the Central Florida State Energy Center in Cocoa, FL, where Central Florida State University will host an awards banquet.
The racers will use Dell notebooks and wireless technology to gauge solar car battery usage, monitor weather patterns, track competitors via global positioning systems and upload daily statistics. In addition, the race judges will use the notebooks to track the teams each day, and with Internet access, can track each car as it travels the course.
