The Cyprus Institute

world class in its standards
international in its membership
partnered with established world class institutions
dedicated to the advancement of knowledge
independent in its support, public in its commitment and service

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On Saturday 19 June the Cyprus Institute, in collaboration with the Research Promotion Foundation, organized Cyprus's first Solar Car Challenge. The competition challenged teams to design, build, manage and race solar-powered vehicles. Teams from Cyprus and abroad, competed in the solar car race.

International attendance included the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) Solar Club who exhibited and raced the Photon which was constructed more than 20 years ago, when solar vehicles were a rare phenomenon, and illustrating how far technology has developed. CERN is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research, located at the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. And the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST).

History

In February/March 2008 the first solar vehicle workshop was held at the Athalassa campus of the Cyprus Institute. The event was organized in association with the Research Promotion Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The workshop was led by the Belgium Umicore solar team (the runners up of the 2007 WSC). The three-day workshop was attended by over 70 local teachers and school children.

Event

The Cyprus Institute Solar Car Challenge will become an annual event. It will encourage local and international teams to participate. This initiative aims to generate an interest and enthusiasm for continued science, technology and engineering studies and to raise public awareness of “clean” transportation. The event intends to promote environmentally friendly renewable energy, electric vehicle technology and foster educational and engineering excellence. The cars are custom-designed solar vehicles.