ISU students are looking forward to getting more sun after this winter, but no one is more eager than the ISU solar car team, Team PrISUm. The debut of Odyssey, the newly built solar car, is slated for this spring, and the team is preparing to race in the American Solar Challenge, an 11-day race along Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.”This car’s kind of exciting for us because it’s the best technology we’ve ever had in our 10-year history,” said Dwight Brown, systems integration technician for Team PrISUm.Among other technological improvements, Odyssey uses new solar cells that are 21 percent more efficient than those used on the previous car, said Brown, senior in mechanical engineering.In addition, Odyssey contains a more efficient motor, and the battery pack weighs one-fifth of what the previous battery pack weighed, Brown said. He said the energy-dense battery pack is the same kind used in laptop computers.Benjamin Nimmergut, Team PrISUm’s systems project director, said the aluminum chassis was designed on campus with the help of John Deere. “We actually put the frame on the computer [and ran it] through crash scenarios to test its strength,” he said.Nimmergut, senior in mechanical engineering, said Boeing donated the carbon-fiber outer frame of the car. He also said Team PrISUm had hundreds of corporate and private sponsors spanning the country to supply the necessary funds for the construction of the new car.”I’m not saying technology wins the race, but it does have a definite influence on how well you do,” Brown said.The team members said they are enthusiastic about the team-oriented project. “I look at it as a group of 35 students who all own a company or small business while we’re in college, and that’s the kind of experience we’re getting,” Nimmergut said. “This is real-world experience as far as we’re all concerned, and when we go out looking for jobs, companies value that experience.”Brown said employers view their work with the solar car as job experience rather than an extracurricular activity.“Many employers have told us to put this in our job experience section [of our resume], not in with our clubs or activities,” he said. “It really is a job for a lot of people who put in a lot of time.”Ross Fischer, co-director of race logistics for Team PrISUm, said he joined Team PrISUm, because he wanted to get involved with student projects. “[I like] being around people who are devoted to something,” said Fischer, junior in computer engineering.Tim Lappe said he joined Team PrISUm at the suggestion of his wife in 1999, and he eventually was selected to drive the car in the three-day Formula Sun Grand Prix in Topeka, Kansas. Lappe, senior in electrical engineering, said he raced from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. for all three days, and Team PrISUm placed a strong fourth in the race. “I definitely think we’ll improve … on our fifth-place finish in [the American Solar Challenge of] ’99,” he said, looking ahead to July’s race.In addition to building the car and the races, Nimmergut said, the team participates in 15 to 20 outreach events every year. He said the team members present their knowledge of solar power and alternative energy to groups including elementary schools, church groups and large corporations.”There are a lot of solar car teams out there, but we’re one of the few that really believes in doing a lot of outreach as part of the project,” Brown said. “If we were to sit here and collect all the information and build a great car and not share it with anybody, I don’t think it would be benefiting anyone except for the people on the team, and that’s not the goal,” he said.The finishing touches still need to be added to Odyssey, he said, but it is scheduled to be finished by March 5. An official unveiling will be held April 14.