The 2011 Macau Solar Challenge

Richard Whitfield* Professor, USJ

As you may have deduced from my various scribbles, I have an interest in environmental issues. And I firmly believe that significantly changing the mindset of a community is a long term process that must involve young people – the community has to grow into its new position.
To help the Macau community change its views on environmental issues, we developed the Macau Solar Challenge in 2010. We held a Summer Camp for 12 teams of 5-6 secondary school students so that they could design, build and race remotely controlled, solar powered model boats. The camp culminated in a race day at the lagoon at The Venetian Resort, Cotai. The teams did well and the event was very successful – everybody learned a lot, and we significantly raised our Macau community’s awareness of environmental issues.
We decided to make this an annual initiative, and for the 2011 Macau Solar Challenge we have 22 teams of secondary students currently working on their solar powered boats, and the Race Day will be tomorrow, Saturday June 25, from 10:30am to 3pm, weather permitting.
The participating students learn about photovoltaic and the design of efficient boat hulls that can move quickly through open water using little energy. They also get their hands dirty by designing, building and racing remotely controlled solar powered model boats. They are free to choose any hull form they like and build it from polystyrene. Each team has four 5W solar panels to provide power for their boat, which they need to arrange on their hull. They are also provided with two standard electric motors fitted with propellers to mount on their hull. And finally, they are provided with a standard remote controller so they can steer their boat and control how the available power is used to move it forward (or backward).
In doing the design and construction work, the students also learn about engineering and science to open their eyes to these fields as possible future career options. Finally, they also learn how to work in teams to achieve a concrete goal in limited time with limited resources.
So far, everybody who has been involved has been very supportive of the Macau Solar Challenge and sees how well it works as a fun educational activity. We are going to continue to expand the event, and the more people who learn about it the better. As well as the Race Day, we will be participating in the Macau IT Week during July, so that more Macau school children can learn about the Solar Challenge, and get to try out some of the boats.
We are already planning for the 2012 Macau Solar Challenge, and we are hoping to extend it to simpler and smaller solar powered model boats and cars that can be designed and built by senior primary students. We are also hoping that the 2012 winning team can go to Australia for an international solar challenge in September 2012.
I hope to see at our 2011 Race Day. I am sure that you will enjoy it, and learn a lot about solar power and boat performance.

©MDTimes/ University of Saint Joseph