Brennan Tymrak

Renewable energy has been at the center of Brennan’s interest for many years. His desire to learn about and be involved in alternative energy led him to join the Alternative Fuels Group Enterprise in the Fall of 2008 and form the Solar Car Team in January of 2009. He is committed to the team and dedicated to its success and hopes it will grow to become a visible representation of the renewable energy projects at Michigan Tech. Brennan plans to use what he learns about renewable energy and leadership from the Solar Car Team to pursue a career working to bring renewable energy to impoverished and developing countries.

Dan Sallen

Dan Sallen is a fourth year Mechanical Engineer pursuing a minor in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology. Dan has gained experience in business operations while working for Bell Mortgage over the years. Dan’s passions include sustainable agricultural practices and alternative energy generation. His interest in energy led him to partner with Brennan Tymrak on various alternative energy projects, culminating in the solar car endeavor. Infused with the knowledge gained from this project, Dan hopes to help the world meet its increasing energy needs in a sustainable and lasting way as he moves forward in his engineering career.

Orlando Reyes

Orlando's interest and talent for computers growing up led him to focus on embedded systems during his studies at Tech. He had been looking into embedded solutions for vehicles prior to joining the team and his focus is on how to better manage the car's electrical system using minimal amount of hardware, but with maximum potential options. He came to the Solar Car Team to learn how to manage the power distribution in a practical system and how solar technology will fit into the vehicles of the future. He hopes to carry this knowledge into the workforce and use it to better design the chips that manage our vehicles and other practical systems.

Ben Markel

Ben Markel is a second year Chemical engineer from Marine City, Michigan. This is his fourth semester as a member of the Michigan Tech Solar Car Team. Ben is very interested in alternative energy sources and is always open for a challenge.

Jonathon Crowe

Jonathon (J.R.) Crowe is a fourth year Civil Engineering major pursuing a minor in the Fine Arts. It is his third semester in AFG and on the solar car team. He decided to join the solar car team because it involves the use of sustainable energy. Sustainable energy has found new places in the world of architecture, such as green engineering. By learning how sustainable energies are practically applied, he plans to gain a finer understanding of the limits or expansions possible with green engineering. He also has previously raced go-karts for eleven years and has a solid understanding of the mechanical components necessary in small vehicles, such as a solar car.

Joe Rushing

Joe Rushing is a sixth year Computer and Electrical Engineering student with a focus on power and energy. Joe has gained experience working in the field of solar technology while on co-op for Pieper Electric, Inc in 2009. While coming of age, Joe had always been interested in understanding how and why things were the way they were. Like many, he has realized that there will be a day when fossil fuels can no longer be depended on for energy. He believes that anticipation of this is key to a smooth energy transition in the future.

Rob Ferris

Rob joined the Solar Car team with an interest in the everyday applications of renewable energy resources and wanted a project with significant design work from which he could apply his strong background in CAD as well as gain hands-on experience in manufacturing. He has enjoyed working on both the structural design of the car and the construction.

Michael Pawlicki

Michael Pawlicki is a third year Materials Science and Engineering student. Michael joined the Alternative Fuels Group Enterprise in order to learn more about alternative energy sources. He feels that sustainability is becoming more vital as society as a whole continues to treat the Earth’s vast resources as being infinite. Michael hopes to be able to use the knowledge gained from the enterprise in order to gain a better understanding of alternative energy, and be able to help deal with the energy crisis.

Rich Casing

Rich has an interest in sustainable energies, specifically finding alternatives to gasoline and oil. Rich will be fulfilling his senior design requirements by optimizing the aerodynamic design of the solar car by performing a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis in order to produce a more fuel efficient car.

Jacob Menchak

Jacob is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at Michigan Tech. His passion for alternative, renewable, and environmentally friendly energy sources inspired him to join the Alternative Fuels Group Enterprise. Motivated to discover new applications for sustainable energies, Jacob became a member of the Solar Car Team in the fall of 2010.Through the construction of a solar powered vehicle, Jacob intends to gain a finite understanding of how alternative energy can be deployed in a practical application. The rich experiences Jacob will gain working with the team to design, construct, test, and race the solar car will empower him with knowledge and skills he will use to advance the use of alternative energies in his engineering career.