IT University To Host Solar Racing World Champions
Reigning solar racing world champions, the Agoria Solar Team, have requested support from Belgium Campus IT University for the upcoming 2022 Sasol Solar Challenge.
About the Team
The Agoria Solar Team is a group of engineeringstudents from the renowned Belgian institution, KU Leuven. The team has been building solar cars and participating in international solar challenges for over 16 years!
Not only do they hold the title of solar racing world champions after winning the most recent Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in 2019, but also that of European champions after winning the iLumen European Solar Challenge in 2020. While winning is great, the team also races for a more meaningful reason – to showcase the power and importance of renewable energy.
About the Upcoming Challenge
The Sasol Solar Challenge is a biennial event that challenges solar car teams from across the globe to travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town relying purely on solar energy. This year’s event will take place from 9 to 16 September. The team that covers the greatest distance by the end of the eight-day event will be declared the winning team.
Known for its challenges, participating teams must push their engineering skills to new heights to design and build a solar car capable of withstanding the varied weather conditions the Sasol Solar Challenge route presents.
Support From Belgium Campus IT University
The Agoria Solar Team will arrive at the IT university on 11 August to prepare for the upcoming event. They will use one of the institution’s aeroplane hangars as their workshop to get their car race ready and the institution’s research and innovation hub, Botlhale Village, as an office space to further finalise their race strategy. During their stay, Belgium Campus students and staff will have the incredible opportunity to tour the workshop and learn what it takes to prepare for such a big event.
This is not the first collaboration between Belgium Campus and KU Leuven. In fact, the two intuitions have a longstanding relationship, with lecturers from the Belgian institution regularly travelling to the IT university to present master classes.
KU Leuven also helps Belgium Campus maintain an international standard of education by auditing the institution and its qualifications. The most recent audit found the South African institution’s Bachelor of Computing degree more advanced than an academic bachelor’s programme of European standards!
Meet the Agoria Solar Team at Our Open Day
You didn’t think we would host the solar racing world champions and not give our prospective students a chance to come and meet them, did you? The Agoria Solar Team will be at our Open Day on Saturday, 20 August. Join us and view the solar car they will be racing and attend the exciting presentation they will be giving.
We look forward to seeing you there! In the meantime, keep an eye on our social media platforms for regular updates and a sneaky Instagram takeover from the Agoria Solar Team themselves!
