By Guadi Rabino
Staff Writer
Mira Costa Science teacher Trevor Oystrick and a team of students plan to shine bright in Solar Cup, an eco-boating competition in May 2017.
Oystrick and his team, which is open to any students interested in engineering, includes juniors Lucas Brannan, Liam DiGregorio, Allie King, Madison McDonald and Kevin Pinkerton are manufacturing a boat that runs exclusively on solar power to race in the Solar Cup. The Solar Cup is open to all Southern California high schools.
“I entered the competition because I thought that it would be a great opportunity for students to get some engineering and environmental science experience,” Oystrick said. “I also have great sponsors; I received money through a grant from Manhattan Beach Education Foundation to build the solar boat, and King Harbor Marina provided us with a boat slip.”
Each solar team is provided with an identical starter kit that consists of marine-caliber wood required to build the frame of the boat. Using the kit, the team is expected to build, paint and make a fully functioning 16-foot long boat that holds one person.
At this point, the team has waterproofed and built the frame of the boat. Now, students are tasked with ensuring that the different parts of the boat, such as the drivetrain, which is the system that connects the transmission to the drive axles to the wheels, works properly. This involves creating custom parts and deciding on the sizes of the sprockets, which are teethed wheels. The team members also still have to decide on the placement of the solar panels.
“I have really been stepping outside my comfort zone when building this boat,” DiGregorio said. “There really is not an aspect that I do not like about the solar boat project.”
Although building the boat has been an enriching experience for both Oystrick and team members, they have encountered many difficulties regarding custom-made parts. In addition, the team also lacks knowledge in certain aspects of engineering and has had to look for outside resources for help building the boat.
“The difficulties involve getting custom-made parts. If we need a steel motor mount to ensure the stability of the engine, we have to find out where we can get those parts manufactured,” Oystrick said. “I also do not have an engineering background, so Costa physics teacher Jonathan Lewis helps out in providing guidance in the building process.”
The competition is held on Lake Skinner in Temecula Valley, California. The team is unable to compete in the 2016 competition because it was not informed about the competition before the Dec 2015 registration deadline.
“Although we missed the deadline, we would not have been prepared for this year’s race to begin with,” Oystrick said. “The thing with engineering is it is a lot of problem-solving, figuring out all the little details such as bolt sizes, types of screws, and welder requirements. That really is the challenge, and that is why it is nice to be able to complete all of these tasks before the Solar Boat competition next year.”
Once the boat is fully completed, Oystrick and his team plan on racing the boat against teams from both Peninsula and Palos Verdes high schools for extra practice before the undetermined date of next year’s Solar Cup competition.
“I’m excited to compete next year because it will be fun to race in a competition against others challenged with the same difficult task,” McDonald said. “Hopefully, we can reach perfection, and the effort we put in will pay off.”
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