One Team, One Heart: 35 Years Under the Sun

Joseph Harrington, College of Engineering

Collaborators: Taylor Kessinger, CoE; Kristen Schang, CoE; Ian Bakker, CoE

One Team, One Heart: 35 Years Under the Sun is a free, public gallery exhibit celebrating 35 years of Michigan Solar Car history. Located in the Duderstadt Center Gallery on the University of Michigan North Campus, the exhibit tells the story of Michigan Solar Car including its founding, 10 National Championships, 17 cars, and over 30 competitions. Experience the progression of solar car engineering over three decades and the forging of the team’s identity. It features four of the team’s cars up close, hundreds of exclusive photos, informational graphics about the team, and the 2024 National Championship trophy.

The goal of this project is to document, share, and celebrate the story of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team. Through this, the exhibit aims to engage students, alumni, faculty and staff, partners, and the local southeast Michigan community to strengthen and develop relationships which are critical to the success of the team. The gallery exhibit being the means to achieving this goal is appropriate because it presents the narrative of the team in an approachable and accessible manner. The solar cars are reimagined as not only products of engineering and technological machines, but as pieces of art—testaments to the people who have contributed to their existence. The content in the space is easily digestible and can be interacted with through text, picture, video, or engaging a team member with questions.

This is a group project necessitated by the scale of the show. We have brought in four full-size cars, curated three and a half decades of historical material, and designed over 20 graphics to accompany the primary materials in the space. Coordinating all these aspects of the project to deliver on time is an interdisciplinary challenge. Design and initial planning of the exhibit started in February 2024. I laid out the high level vision for the project, booked the gallery space, and assembled a team to execute on the plan.

Major content design and curation of the show’s pieces occurred this past summer. Ian, Taylor, and myself led the content curation and graphic design while Kristen has worked logistics of transporting all the items to Ann Arbor, many of which are on loan from elsewhere and needed to be picked up or shipped here. We have also had help from dozens of volunteers on the team to install everything, advertise the show, and work as dosants during public hours. The team’s membership draws from eleven of the nineteen schools and colleges at the University.

My team and I have skills in project management, interdisciplinary collaboration, Adobe Illustrator, shipping and logistics, communication, and perseverance to overcome challenges that have allowed us to put this show on.

The exhibit ran from September 24 to October 10, 2024. A reception was held for team members and partners on the evening of October 4, 2024. We had between 80 and 120 visitors to the show each day.