Solar Car team drives towards new goals

By Kristen Shepard Staff Writer A dedicated group of students uses welding tools, wires and wheels work in a place where the sky is the limit. The Coppell Solar Car team is unlike any high school organization and is planning success in their future by driving full speed ahead. Under the guidance of Mike Yakubovsky, the 43-member Solar Car team is one of the best in the nation. This group of high school students aspires to compete with the top engineering colleges and corporations in the world, and their hard work and dedication is putting them on track to do so. The solar car team has a past of success and high-performance. Each year, the…

Yakubovsky, Engineering department round off a great year

By Lance McCaskey Staff Writer The hard work and determination of STEM Academy lead teacher and Solar Team coach Mike Yakubovsky made this summer one for the record books for the engineering department. Yakubovsky led the Solar Car team to Texas Motor Speedway for the Solar Car Challenge. Every year the Winston Solar Car Team gives out awards, and the Randall Murphy Award is considered one of the most prestigious. It is given to the teacher who they feel inspires not only their team, but also the entire Solar Car community to do the best they can. The committee felt Yakubovsky encompassed the entire award and has earned his success through his work. “It was…

Solar car team races into competition

Laura Kattilakoski Staff Writer Building cars is typically left to the professionals, but the members of Coppell High School’s engineering team have spent hours upon hours after school to complete their very own solar car for a national competition. “[Solar car is] basically a group of students all around the country that come together, and every team builds their car from scratch,” senior assistant mechanical lead Sagar Patel said. “You do your design work and your own kind of machine shop and make a car that runs successfully off of just solar energy and race it.” To compete, each team must build a car that runs purely on solar powered batteries. The competition this year…

Engineering Expo inspires aspiring engineers

Laura Kattilakoski Staff Writer With today’s world being so technology oriented, it seems reasonable to assume that engineers make up a growing number of the population. However, in reality, the numbers of engineers are actually dwindling. Every year, Coppell High School hosts an Engineering Expo to get students excited about the possibilities in an engineering field. This year’s expo takes place on November 7. It will feature guest speakers, as will as engineering projects taking place at CHS. These projects include a solar car, an underwater ROV (which as a remote operated vehicle), among other robot and rocket projects. Last year’s expo had about 2000 attendees, and Coppell’s School of Engineering hopes that many more…

Solar Car team races toward a brighter future

by Divya Kumar News Editor Video by Brian O’Connor While most of the products that the Coppell Engineering team produces require intense knowledge in mathmatical and scienficic areas, none are quite so challenging as the Winston Solar Car competition. This competition, designed for high school engineering students, focuses on the creation of a car that will be drivable solely off of a battery charged by solar power. Though such a task seems beyond the means of an average student, the CHS Solar Car team proves otherwise. Beginning last July, the team has been meeting to work and design the basic elements for their car. A combination of 15 students, ranging from sophomores to seniors, meets…