The IMRA name on the car

For those who have noticed in our photo with Jack Roush, the name and logo of ‘IMRA’ has appeared on our vehicle.  As you can guess, IMRA America has become the major sponsor of the University of Michigan Solar Car team for the 2011 Solar Car, Quantum.

IMRA America, Inc., founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1990, is dedicated to the development of ultrafast fiber laser technologies for commercial applications. IMRA’s technology portfolio includes over 150 US and international patents and patent applications. The company’s pioneering technologies, rigorous quality control and high volume manufacturing operation make IMRA’s products the sound choice for scientific, OEM and industrial use. IMRA’s femtosecond fiber lasers are ideal for a host of applications ranging from ultrafast measurement instruments to industrial material processing and refractive surgery. The company’s visionary philosophy was inspired by Mr. Minoru Toyoda, honorary advisor to IMRA’s parent corporation, Aisin Seiki: “World Harmony through the Development and Sharing of Science and Technology.“

President of IMRA America, Mr. Tak Omitsu, speaks to the team about our collaboration.

“We are excited to begin working together to become the first US student team in history to win the World Challenge” says, Business Director Chris Hilger.

We cannot thank IMRA enough for providing significant financial support to enable the team to unlock the World’s best technology. We hope that this will become the base of a collaboration with IMRA engineers to make further improvements to Quantum and future cars.

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Mark Fields, President of The Americas at Ford Motor Company, met with solar car last week in his office at the Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn Michigan.  Ford has been a supporter of Michigan Solar Car for over 20 years, and the relationship has helped both Ford and UMsolar build better cars. In this film clip Fields talks about the value in being a supporter of the University of Michigan Solar Car.

To see the longer version with over twice the footage, and even more Mark Fields, click here!

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When it comes to actually manufacturing the parts that the Engineering Division designs, Solar Car depends on machine shops all over the country to lend their years of expertise on the team’s behalf.  A few shops are always there for the team, and have been willing to manufacture parts for many solar cars throughout the past. Daka Manufacturing is one of those shops.

Daka has been known to produce some of the most difficult pieces of manufacturing that the team has ever designed.  They’ve been with the team since the 2001 project, during which the solar car M-Pulse was built.  Our Head of Sourcing for that project, Ahmir Rashid, found Dave Upton, who was one of the few with enough experience to produce the notorious “fish kingpins” which are named for their unusual shape.  Daka has continued their support by creating some of the most infamously difficult solar car parts over the years, including the trailing arm on Continuum, and Quantum’s kingpins.

The team sources components from all across the country, but Daka’s sponsorship is especially valuable, not only because they manufacture hard parts, but also because they are so far into enemy territory.  The shop is located just outside of South Bend, home of football rival Notre Dame.  This makes their support that much sweeter, knowing that even within hostile lands, we have fans.

Dave admits to being a little camera shy, but the picture above shows M-Pulse at the ASC finish line, ending what had been an eight year National Championship drought.  Hard work from our machine sponsors often goes on quietly behind the scenes, but it’s what propels us to the finish line and allows us to be competitive.  So for manufacturing all of those tricky parts, we thank you Daka.

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