About Us
Our History
The Northwestern University Solar Car Team (NUsolar) is an undergraduate student organization that designs, builds, and races solar-powered vehicles.
NUsolar was founded in 1997 by students and faculty at Northwestern University. Our first car, Sun Cat, was completed in 1999. Since then, we have built seven more vehicles and participated in over 10 solar car races.
Our mission is to enhance the education and career preparation for Northwestern students by providing hands-on project management, design, and manufacturing experience in addition to providing an outlet for students to demonstrate their skills and commitment to potential employers. We also promote alternative energy by increasing the “green” energy awareness in the community and demonstrating the feasibility of solar power.
Leadership
Project Manager
Oliver Yocum (2024) is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering. He has been with the team since his Freshman year and became the Project Manager in his Junior year. As the Project Manager, Oliver is responsible for coordinating with all teams and keeping the entire project on track to finish our SC7s car and get us to the FSGP 2023 race this summer.
Business Lead
Lucas Olschansky (2025) is pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering. He has been with the team since his Freshman year and became the Business Lead his Sophomore year. As the Business Lead, Lucas is responsible for the financial, administrative, and outreach-related aspects of the team. This includes managing the team’s budget, applying for grants, coordinating race logistics, and communicating/reaching out to sponsors.
Software Lead
Chibueze Onyenemezu (2023) is pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering. He has been with the team since his Freshman year and became the Software Lead his Junior year. As the Software Lead, Chibu is responsible for overseeing the development of all software and telemetry components of the vehicle such as the driver display , manages the rest of the Software Team, and is in charge of getting the software part of our car ready by this summer’s race.
Mechanical Lead
Marko Beric (2024) is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering. He has been with the team since his Freshman year and became the Mechanical Lead his Sophomore year. As the Mechanical Lead, Marko is responsible for training new Mechanical members, designating members to and overseeing all Mechanical sub-teams, and overall making sure the designing and manufacturing of our car goes smoothly and in time for our race this summer.
Electrical Lead
Matthew Flais (2024) is pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering. He has been with the team since his Freshman year and became the Electrical Lead his Junior year. As the Electrical Lead, Matthew is responsible for teaching Electrical members, overseeing all electrical components of the car, and making sure the car’s electrical systems are developed in time for our race this summer.
Advisors
Mr. Comolli is Founder and President of DMAXX, LLC, a software and service provider that has been providing office solutions to the CTA community since 1994. He is an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University.
Dr. Rubenstein is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science, and affiliated with the Master of Science in Robotics Program.
Dr. Keys is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Mechanical Engineering department.