OUR TEAM

OUR TEAM

We are a collection of students from different faculties around the University of Waterloo, all with the common goal of making the future of transportation more sustainable.

HOW TO JOIN

Interested in joining the team?

1) Visit our Join Us page to learn more about meetings

2) Come to our meetings, ask questions and ask for work!

There is no need to apply to the team, just come to our meetings with a willingness to learn.

If you have any questions, feel free to send anyone a message over Slack or send us an email at solar@uwmidsun.com.

SUBTEAMS

MECHANICAL

The mechanical team is responsible for everything from the roll cage, suspension, and steering, to the braking and aerobody systems. We use a variety of materials from composites like carbon fiber and fiberglass to metals like aluminum and steel. Most importantly, we design the mechanical systems in CAD, create kinematic models, and perform FEA on simulations.

HARDWARE

The electrical team is responsible for developing the system that handles power distribution and makes the car move. We focus on building a practical, easy to debug, and resilient electrical system, taking full advantage of both hardware and software capabilities.

FIRMWARE

The firmware team at Midnight Sun writes embedded code to validate and support the hardware systems in the car. Some projects include writing C-based firmware for the power distribution, battery monitoring system and driver controls. We also have a telemetry system to monitor various aspects of the car such as velocity and battery pack voltage.

BUSINESS

The business team handles sponsorship, marketing, and budgeting. We are responsible for organizational duties, which include but are not limited to, public and industry relations, graphic design and media content, and planning complex race logistics.

STRATEGY

The strategy team is in charge of handling race tactics. Everything from vehicle statistics to weather data is taken into consideration when developing scripts that aim to optimize the performance of the vehicle at competition.

Team History

Founded in 1988, Midnight Sun remains one of the oldest student design teams at the University of Waterloo. Our rich history of excellence and innovation has been passed down to new members and over the years, vehicle designs have rapidly evolved, due to their drive to reach for higher and more ambitious goals.

Most recently in 2018, Midnight Sun became the first Canadian team to compete in the cruiser class category and finish at the American Solar Challenge. We now aim to go beyond this accomplishment and for 2019, we have raised the bar and are ready to face greater challenges.

Our Cars