NUsolar - Northwestern University Solar Car Team

Name: NUsolar - Northwestern University Solar Car Team
Address: Evanston, IL, 60208, US
Telephone: (872) 529-6878
Price range: $

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NUsolar - Northwestern University Solar Car Team

This is the Northwestern University Solar Car Team, a student-run organization in the McCormick Schoo

04/05/2026

This winter, our team didn’t sleep much. But here’s what we built instead. 🧵👇

🔩 Mechanical — Finalized designs, completed CAM/CNC training, and machined front hubs, brake rotors, and suspension A-arms from scratch.

⚡ Electrical — Designed a custom active cell balancer, completed two new PCBs, and integrated new motor controllers.

💻 Software — Flashed lightboard firmware, pulled live CAN bus data on a Pi, and built a wireless XBEE race telemetry protocol.

💼 Business — Secured sponsorships, grew social media, prepped merch, and opened FSGP 2026 race logistics.

Driven by Innovation. Fueled by the Sun. ☀️

CleanTech FSGP2026 Innovation Northwestern STEM EVRacing SustainableEngineering BuildSeason CollegeLife FutureEngineers

01/18/2026

🌞 Last fall, our new mechanical team members kicked off their journey with a hands-on mini car project designed to spark creativity and build technical confidence. Starting with a solid aluminum block, members learned the essentials of machining, precision milling, CAD modeling, and 3D printing, all while making custom cars of their own design.

📊 The results were as diverse as our team members made everything from sleek race cars to a Clash Royale-inspired Sparky build! Through this project, our mechanical rookies gained real machine shop experience and learned the skills that power our full-scale solar car.

❄️ This winter, they’re turning those skills into reality by creating the very components they designed themselves, taking the next step toward bringing our solar car to life.

01/11/2026

Presenting to you…

NUsolar’s Fall 2025 Recap Newsletter! 🏎️ 🏎️

Inside, you’ll find out what each of our subteams have been getting up to, and what they’ll be doing during Winter quarter as well! ☀️

11/14/2025

Our NUSolar catalyzer has ended, and we are happy to say that we have surpassed our goal of $5000, raising $5495! We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who spread the word, donated and supported NUSolar.

The money raised will be going towards building the next generation of our team’s battery box, and we can’t wait to get started.
Again, thank you so much to everyone who contributed, your support is greatly appreciated! ☀️☀️

11/10/2025

What is NUsolar up to… Mechanical team edition! ☀️🔧
Our mechanical team has been busy building skills and finalizing designs for the next stage of our car!

Returning members are deep in design review - making design decisions for the aero shell and canopy for the car’s final look! 🏎️

New trainees are learning CAD and 3D printing while finishing their training cars — gaining hands-on experience so they can have all the skills they need to work on the actual car. In the shop, they’re also learning to 3D print, mill and lathe aluminum.

As we wrap up fall and head into winter, the team will begin machining the components they’ve been designing! ⚙️⚙️

10/26/2025

What is NUsolar up to…. Software team edition! ⌨️⌨️

Our software team has split into sub-teams to tackle three different projects!
1. Using the Rust crate socketcan, this team is capturing data from the car via a Raspberry Pi, parsing, and preparing it for analysis.

2. The XBee team is rewriting our XBee communication library in Rust, gearing it towards our car’s needs, with the end goal of open sourcing it and publishing for other people to use.

3. Collaborating with our electrical team, the wireless light board team is developing software for a PCB based lighting control system.

Great to see hands-on learning in action! 🖥️🖥️

10/23/2025

Last call for NUsolar’s Fall 2025 Catalyzer! 🏎️ 🏎️

We need your support to hit our goal and get race ready for the 2026 Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge! ☀️☀️ The catalyzer ends on October 31st, so there is still one more week to donate.
Donation link in bio!

Please share with friends and family to spread the word!

10/02/2025

Welcome back! Our sub teams are hard at work building, learning, and preparing for another exciting year with NUsolar. We’re so excited to work with all of our new and returning members on the SC8! ☀️ 🏎️

09/15/2025

Earlier this summer, NUsolar participated in the Formula Sun Grand Prix! 🚗☀️ While we didn’t hit the track this time, the week was filled with invaluable lessons from feedback on our design from scrutineers, to connecting with other university teams, to learning a TON along the way. We’re excited to put this knowledge to work as we prepare for next year’s race. Thank you to all of our sponsors, advisors, and members who make this all possible! Go ‘Cats! 💜😁

06/08/2025

Here’s to all the memories we made outside the garage :) Thanks for an unforgettable year of socials, everyone! 🫶

05/27/2025

& showing off the MANY ways to sit in our car 🤣 Don’t miss the last slide — Dean Schuh takes it for a spin! 👨‍🏫🏎️

Address

Evanston, IL
60208

Telephone

(872) 529-6878

Website

http://www.nusolar.org/

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