For Team PrISUm, a student-run organization at Iowa State, there is never time to rest. The students are always designing, always building and always hoping for sunlight.

In 1987, General Motors won the World Solar Challenge, an inaugural solar car race in Australia. Following its win, the company decided to cease making solar cars and instead turned its attention toward creating a race of its own.

“[General Motors] decided that rather than enter another car in the next race, they would host a race in the U.S. and encourage colleges to build cars as a way to build up interest for young people going into science and engineering,” said James Hill, professor of engineering and co-founding adviser of the Solar Car team.

The team, known as the ISU Solar Car Project, would take part in the first American Solar Challenge race in 1990 as an honor society project by Tau Beta Pi.

The car finished 17th, and the decision was made shortly after to rename the team to “Team PrISUm,” after the first car, and open the organization up to all students.

“We quickly learned that Tau Beta Pi was not really broad enough to do it themselves,” Hill said. “Besides, it was going to be such a fantastic experience that we decided we should open it up to the entire university.”

In the 22 years since Team PrISUm was founded, the group has built nine additional cars, bringing its total to 10.

The team currently has around 25 members who work on the car, each taking two years and nearly $250,000 to complete. ISU senior and project manager Evan Stumpges said donations play a key role in each project.

“There are hundreds of sponsors for the car ranging from the adopted cell program that we have all the way to donations of $25,000 worth of products, services and cash donations,” Stumpges said. “More sponsors than I could count help us out with little things that go into the project.”

Last May, Team PrISUm raced its 10th car, Anthelion, to a fourth-place finish in its final race during the 2011 Formula Sun Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One former driver said seeing the car hit the track is one of the best moments of the long project.

“It’s very satisfying because you knew that two years of work had culminated in something that worked and could actually drive on a racetrack and compete,” said Wade Johanns, 2009 assistant project director and current graduate research assistant in industrial engineering.

Now, Team PrISUm is working on its 11th car, which will be named Hyperion. The car is set to race for the first time in the summer of 2012 at the American Solar Challenge, and the team is bent on continuing to improve upon past cars.

“We’re pushing all of the things we always have: low weight, good aerodynamics and efficient electronics,” Stumpges said. “But more than anything, it comes down to who has the most reliable and durable car, so we’ve been putting in a lot of time to make sure the car is rock solid and can run the whole race without stopping.”

You can bet the team will be hoping for plenty of sun come next summer.