Solar Spirit

Mr. Oliver Fairbairn

Oliver is the team leader of the new Solar Spirit team, and is an avid boat enthusiast. He is the current Commodore of the Imperial College Yacht Club.

As leader, Oliver coordinates interdisciplinary design work and arbitrates disputes. He also sets the meeting agendas and will organise the final submission of documents.

Oliver also acts as PR Manager, and will act as the point of contact with sponsors and college organisations.

Mr. Oliver Burrell

Oliver Burrell is in the Superstructure Division of the team. Along with Colin, they are working on the integral structure of the boat and ensuring it conforms with the competition regulations, as well as the fitting safety features to the craft.

Oliver is also the treasurer of the team. He is in charge of the accounting and financial record keeping as well as management of the allocated budget.

Mr. Colin Goh

Colin is in the Superstructure Division of the team. Together with Oliver B, they work on all fittings and hull structures of the boat starting from the hull made by last years team.

Colin is also the Secretary of the team. As secretary, he records minutes from meetings, ensures documentation conformity.

Mr. Hock Ong

Hock is the Mechanical Control Systems Manager for the team and looks into the steering system of the boat, as well as any human-engine component interfaces.

Hock is also the web space manager, and will seek to update the public on the progress of the team via news bulletins and uploading pictures to this site.

Mr. Christopher D Hampsheir

Chris is in charge of the solar panels and electronics integration.

Chris takes an interest into the solar panels connections, and is in charge of working on the design of a control circuit to interface between panels, batteries and motor. Together with Olakunle, he also carries out all electrical system testing.

Mr. Olakunle Olalere

Ola is in charge of the Power and Electrical Systems of the boat. He is in charge of the batteries and charging circuit as well as the motor-electrical system integration.

Ola is also the safety officer of the team and coordinates all safety assessments of the team's work in design, manufacture and testing of the boat and its systems. He is also in charge of procuring all safety equipment required for the competition.

Mr. Thomas C Middleditch

Thomas is team leader and in this capacity he is responsible for chairing meetings, designing team strategy and final quality control. He is also in charge of designing the boat superstructure. The superstructure design includes the boat deck, seating area for the skipper and attachments for the solar panels, outboard and other ancillaries.

Thomas has recently been involved in workspace management, presentation and the manufacture of a small carbon fibre model.

Mr. Oliver B Carson

Due to his background in electronics Oliver is responsible for the design of the control system and in this capacity he has been working with potential sponsors who can offer support in this area. He is also in charge of the manufacturing side of the project due to his interest and experience in 'hands on' work and so oversees all manufacturing activities.

Oliver also performs the role of secretary for the group, keeping minutes from meetings in order to ensure that all decisions are recorded and acted upon.

Mr. Christopher J Burrows

Chris works on materials and manufacturing. His early efforts were focussed on securing sponsorship and developing a materials selection criteria derived from the competition regulations. This identified carbon fibre reinforced polymers as the best materials for performance hull fabrication. Chris designed a skin and skeleton mould for carbon composite lay-up based on the hull designs produced by Peter at the end of 2006. Sourcing carbon fibre for hull construction and developing the processes for manipulating this space age material in university workshops has occupied him to date.

Mr. Peter E Huthwaite

Peter is in charge of the hydrodynamic design of the hull, which is now complete. In addition, he is the safety officer for the team. More recently he has been working on the presentation aspects for the team, designing this website together with working on team names and logo ideas.

Peter has been helping to finalise the superstructure design such as the mounting of the motor together with a steering system. He has also been working on a small carbon fibre model of the boat to help the team practise with the material.