PrISUm, ISU’s solar car team, is hitting the road to educate Iowans about solar energy.

The team is touring various cities throughout Iowa as part of Sun Run 2002. The tour, which runs from May 20-24, includes stops in Des Moines, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Muscatine, Webster City and Vinton.

PrISUm team member Jason Hill said the tour is a “way to educate Iowans about solar energy and alternative energy sources.”

Hill said Sun Run 2002 will also give PrISUm team members an opportunity to show off the current solar car, the PrISUm Odyssey.

Sun Run 2002 kicked off Monday with a visit to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in Des Moines. PrISUm team members showed the Odyssey to Iowa Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson, who inspected the solar car for the statewide tour. Pederson also declared May Energy Awareness Month in Iowa.

Ross Fischer, PrISUm team member, said the solar car team will not be driving the Odyssey on Iowa’s roads for this year’s tour, as in previous years.

“Unfortunately we don’t have enough personnel this year,” said Fischer, senior in computer engineering.

Instead, the car will travel from town to town in a storage vehicle and will be unveiled for display on each stop, Fischer said.

He said each stop will include a presentation on alternative forms of energy, an explanation of how the Odyssey works and information about the races in which the team has participated.

“Our main focus will be in schools all over Iowa,” Fischer said. “We really want to serve as a way for kids to get interested in science and engineering.”

The team recently finished fifth out of 14 teams at the Formula Sun Grand Prix held in Topeka, Kan. May 13-17, he said.

“Our race went really well,” Fischer said. “We were really happy with our performance.”

PrISUm Odyssey is the team’s sixth solar car, Hill said.

The team is currently designing the seventh car, the PrISUm Spectrum, which will be built this summer. The Spectrum will be raced in the American Solar Challenge, a yearly event which will be run from Chicago, Ill. to Los Angeles, Calif. in July 2003.

A complete itinerary of Sun Run 2002, including tour stops and dates, can be found on PrISUm’s homepage at www.prisum.iastate.edu.