When James Worden came to MIT as a freshman in 1985, he'd already built a solar car. By the time he was 21, he had made six of the 10 working solar cars in the country. He then gathered a group of people interested in building solar cars.

In 1988 Solectria 5 won the American Solar Cup, from 1990-1994. MIT was number one in the American Tour de Sol and in 1999 Manta GTX crossed the finish line of the BWSC in first place.

With a legacy like that, it's hard to recognize that we, as a team, don't count our success based on wins and losses. What makes our team so unique is the environment it provides.

Our team is student-run, giving our members invaluable experience in project management. We are community-focused, spreading renewable energy initiatives within and beyond the workshop. We focus not on winning, but on creating a well-designed, well-engineered system and in the process teach all members how to be better engineers.

But most importantly, we are a passionate group that believes what makes our team special is the people on it. That is who we are.