U-M Solar Car Team Shines

What a year 2001 was for the University of Michigan Solar Car Team and its vehicle, the M-Pulse! They took first place in the 2,300-mile cross-country American Solar Challenge. Fresh off that victory, they went Down Under for the World Solar Challenge, racing across the Australian Outback, from Darwin to the southern shores and Adelaide. The results? The M-Pulse was the fastest American car in the race, the leading amateur entry and, overall, the third-place finisher behind professional teams from the Netherlands and Australia. 

Throughout these competitions, the team required substantial financial capital and materials from sponsors, who are too numerous to list in this short article. However, team captain Nader Shwayhat at the very least wanted to thank these sponsors as a group for their commitment and cooperation. “With their help, we’ve been able to turn our designs into reality, and our efforts into championships. We are truly grateful and hope you will continue to take part in all of our future endeavors.”

Carrying an Old Flame in Indiana

When the Olympic flame passed through Indiana on its way to the 2002 winter Olympics, Leslie Lamberson (BSE AERO ‘04, BFA/BDA ‘04) was among the torchbearers. Her leg of the journey came on January 4 and took her across the northern edge of the state.

How did she get to carry the flame? Sponsors of the Olympic torch relay, solicited brief essays that described how a person used the torch theme, “Light the Fire Within,” in everyday life. Lamberson’s mother took the opportunity to write about Leslie, saying that her daughter was earning a double major, is attending U-M on a Shipman Scholarship, has been dancing since she was five and maintained a 4.0 average throughout high school. Of the more than 200,000 nominating essays, judges selected about 11,000 people from across the United States. Lamberson’s was one of them, and Leslie was on her way. “I spend my days on North Campus,” she said, “evenings sweating at the dance department, and nights battling with aerodynamics homework.” And she can now say that she spent a brief period of time carrying the Olympic flame -- an experience she’ll carry with her the rest of her life.

CoE Student and U-M Music Grad Honor Victims of September 11

When Stephen Warner, an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering and Organ Performance, heard “In Memoriam -- September 11, 2001,” an opus composed by John Courter (MMus ‘66) to commemorate the tragic events of that day, he set aside his engineering talents and tapped into his musical gifts to record the piece on the carillon in U-M’s Ann and Robert H. Lurie Tower. “The opening and closing of the piece is like a lament,” Warner said. “In the middle there’s a slightly faster and brighter imitative section that I believe portrays our ability to help one another out in the face of tragedy. It also shows how our senses have an elevated ability to see what’s beautiful around us when everyday life is shaken up.”