Case Study: Cambridge University Eco Racing achieves competitive solar-racing success with SOLIDWORKS Education Edition

Building a Competitive Eco Racing Team With Solidworks Education Edition

Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) is a 60‑student team at Cambridge University that designs and builds solar‑powered vehicles to compete in the 3,000 km World Solar Challenge. CUER’s challenge was to establish and grow a competitive program capable of vying for the top prize while demonstrating practical low‑carbon transport; to meet this need the team adopted SolidWorks’ SOLIDWORKS Education Edition for 3D design, prototyping, and manufacturing.

Using SolidWorks’ SOLIDWORKS Education Edition, CUER streamlined development and cross‑disciplinary collaboration (mechanical, electrical, aerodynamics, composites and business), produced entries for the 2009 and 2011 World Solar Challenge, and developed a markedly improved 2013 prototype. Results include becoming the leading UK solar‑car developer, improved competition performance, program growth to ~60 members, advanced aerodynamic and composite manufacturing capabilities, and enhanced outreach through SOLIDWORKS visualizations that helped communicate the benefits of solar vehicles.

Cambridge University Eco Racing

Pavel Kohout

Mechanical Team Member