Hemet team represents EMWD well in Solar Cup event

News release from Eastern Municipal Water District:

PERRIS -- A local high school team sponsored by Eastern Municipal Water District won a first- and third-place trophy during the recent Solar Cup competition.

Solar Cup is sponsored by The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and is designed to teach high school students about science, technology, and water conservation as part of its annual program.

The team from West Valley High School in Hemet received the first-place award for the “Onshape Challenge – Lesser Time Commitment Division”, where students had to make three-dimensional models. The team also earned third place for the Electronics Challenge, which consisted of basic electronics, circuits, and solar panels.

The pandemic has changed the landscape in education and this year’s Solar Cup competition adapted accordingly, with students participating in virtual competitions and racing and maneuvering solar-powered vehicles they constructed throughout the academic year.

The 2021 virtual competition was broader in scope, providing a new set of challenging activities for the 16 teams. Those competitions included robotics, computer-aided design, game development, social media, visual arts and career-building.