From News Desk
The MIT Sailing Pavilion hosted an altogether different marine vessel recently – a prototype of a solar electric boat developed by James Worden ’89, the founder of the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT). Worden visited the pavilion on a sizzling, sunny day in late July to offer students from the SEVT, the MIT Edgerton Center, MIT Sea Grant; and the broader community an inside look at the Anita, named for his late wife.
On the Charles River, Worden took visitors for short rides on Anita, including a group of current SEVT students who peppered him with questions. The 20-foot pontoon boat, just 12 feet wide and 7 feet tall, is made of carbon fiber composites, single crystalline solar photovoltaic cells; and lithium iron phosphate battery cells. Ultimately, Worden envisions the prototype could have applications as mini-ferry boats and water taxis.
“Seeing Anita in all its glory was super cool,” says Nicole Lin, Vice Captain, SEVT. “When I first saw it, I could immediately map the different parts of the solar car to its marine counterparts, which was astonishing to see how far I’ve come as an engineer with SEVT. James also explained the boat using solar car terms, as he drew on his experience with solar cars for his solar boats. It blew my mind to see the engineering we learned with SEVT in action.”
Over the years, the Wordens have been avid supporters of SEVT and the Edgerton Center, so the visit was, in part, a way to pay it forward to MIT. “There’s a lot of connections,” he says. He’s still awed by the fact that Harold “Doc” Edgerton, upon learning about his interest in building solar cars, carved out a lab space for him to use in Building 20 — as a first-year student. And a few years ago, as Worden became interested in marine vessels, he tapped Sea Grant Education Administrator Drew Bennett for a 90-minute whiteboard lecture, “MIT fire-hose style,” on hydrodynamics. “It was awesome!” he says.
Disclaimer – The details expressed in this post are from the companies responsible for sending this post for publication. This website doesn’t endorse the details published here. Readers are urged to use their own discretion while making a decision about purchasing or using a product related to this company, or using this information in any way. There has been no monetary benefit to the Publisher/Editor/Website Owner for publishing this post and the Website Owner takes no responsibility for the impacts of purchasing or using these products on the reader, or using this information in any way.
Global Perspectives... 