Today was an exciting day at the Solar Car office. Susan Fancy, who founded the first Michigan Solar Car Team, Sunrunner, visited North Campus in order to meet with the Executive Committee of the 2009 team. After 20 years, it was amazing to hear stories about starting the solar car project and the struggles and successes the Sunrunner team faced.

The stories Susan told left us with a new appreciation for how lucky the Infinium team is to have the respect and credibility gained by each successive team. Although there was vast difference between the 1990 and 2009 teams, we realized that there are many things that have not changed at all. We identified with the sleepless nights and the struggles of helping people understand what we are attempting to do. We also found that culture of fearlessness and determination that we embody was passed on to us from the the very first members of the team.

Meeting Susan was an invaluable opportunity for the leaders of the team. Her desire for us to beat the record of the 1990 team that won the North American race and place third in the World, brought a new dimension to what we were trying to accomplish. Although each of us is passionate about winning the world race, we remembered that we aren't just doing it for ourselves. We are doing it for each person that dedicated a part of their life to get us where we are today. We owe a World Championship to them as much as we owe it to ourselves.

As the tenth generation car is being built, we are reaching out to connect with alumni to celebrate the history of the team. The energy and knowledge the 2009 team can gain from the people that came before us is unbounded. I hope that team alumni around the world will reach out to us to help us make our bid at a World Championship possible.

Susan, thank you again for dropping by and for inspiring us on a whole new level. We are lucky to have such incredible people we can call "solar car family."

- Julia Hawley, Business Director