The intercollegiate competition pits more than 20 schools against each other to find out who can build the best solar-powered boat.
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“What if you could bring 175 of the smartest juniors and seniors in engineering in colleges all across North America and dump them in Springfield, Ohio for a week? That’s exactly what we are doing here,” said Dean Blair, Executive Director for the Clark County Fairgrounds.
This year marks the third year that Solar Splash is being held at the fairgrounds. The competition includes seven categories such as endurance, distance, maneuverability and sprints, Blair said, where some boats can reach speeds of 35 mph.
“And this is all done by solar power,” Blair said.
Jeremy Sheckler, a Cedarville University student competing in Solar Splash, said the competition is, “unique.”
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“There are not many other competitions that have this combination of the electrical side, the motors and the mechanical side, like building the boats,” Sheckler said. “It’s really different.”
While he doesn’t plan on constructing boats for a living, Sheckler said he feels the competition has given him important skills to take with him into his career.
“A lot of the stuff we are learning here is great,” Sheckler said. “Project management, how to work as a team, I think that stuff is going to be really valuable in the workforce.”
The races are running until 5 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
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