Team Solarium is the magic that happened to me - By Paritosh Desai

“ENGINEERING IS THE CLOSEST THING TO MAGIC THAT EXISTS IN THE WORLD” A famous quote by Elon Musk. But for me engineering would have been around assignments, exams and killing my time along with my friends just like most engineers, Team Solarium is the magic that happened to me.

Team Solarium was a fantastic learning platform for me when I was in my first year. Next in Season (my SY 2018-19), I took on a variety of responsibilities, including electrical and solar engineering, documentation, social media management, and Design presentation. We worked until the wee hours of the night to create INVICTUS 3.0, which secured AIR-4 and was our finest vehicle.

Season 2019-20, my third year on the squad, was particularly memorable because I was named Vice-Captain. I had a completely new job now, and I was introduced to the team's backend operations. Alongside Aditya (captain), I saw how difficult problems are often and the way easy and straightforward solution that they had. Dr Anindita Roy, our faculty advisor, was always supportive of us, giving us the courage and freedom to work. We saw a lot of room for improvement in Invictus 3.0, so we chose Invictus 3.1 over Invictus 4.0. The entire car was updated to the highest standard, and new features such as autonomous driving, Internet of Things, and Advanced Data Acquisition were introduced. Our principal goal was to increase reliability but innovation was never jeopardized. Semi-automatic electronic gear shifting, CF A-arms, galvanically separated HV and GLV, and other developments were included in version 3.1, resulting in improved performance. The team did all they could to build and produce the vehicle on schedule, and as a result, 3.1 was the most thoroughly tested vehicle.

We (Aditya and I) recognized the value of team building and bonding while striving for technical excellence. We made sure that each one of our members felt unique and was treated with respect and trust. Team member issues were given the same level of attention as a vehicle or technical issues. This investment aided us when we were involved in a breakdown, with less than a month before the Competition and an exam the following week. In such a brief period, about 50% of the project had to be reworked, but every team member was optimistic that we would succeed. After two weeks, the vehicle was back on the road, with improved performance and tuning.

Despite the pandemic and unfavorable circumstances, we earned AIR-2 last season, which was a personal best, and now we'll try to drive ourselves even further. This season, we're ready for a more difficult challenge in the form of a cross country race. And, based on our improving results and our consistent efforts, I am confident that we will succeed this time.

These four years in Team Solarium taught me four valuable life lessons.

1. Dream big in order to accomplish big

2. Nothing is out of reach

3. Great power comes with great responsibility.

4. Your performance is determined by how high you bounce when you hit rock bottom.