Primavera, the first Colombian solar-powered vehicle that last October succeeded in crossing 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) of Australian desert in its debut at the World Solar Challenge, received the top prize awarded by the association of engineers in this South American country.
Constructed over a year and a half by professors, students and engineers at EAFIT University and public utilities company Empresas Publicas de Medellin in northwestern Colombia, the vehicle was honored Thursday with the 2014 National Engineering Award for its creativity and technological development.
Primavera topped five other projects, all in the area of infrastructure, which were submitted to the Colombian Society of Engineers.
“The prize is important because it identifies engineering not only with vast projects but also with new areas of groundbreaking technology and renewable energy,” EAFIT researcher Gilberto Osorio, one of the engineers taking part in the project, told Efe’s Colombia.inn.
He called the vehicle weighing 350 kilos (770 lbs.) and with 1,600 solar cells “a creative solution.”
Primavera (Spring), named in honor of Medellin, known in Colombia as “the city of eternal springtime,” was created with an investment of 1.87 billion pesos ($1 million).
In the “World Solar Challenge 2013,” Primavera, which has room inside for just one person and can reach a speed of 100 kph (62 mph) on the open desert, came in 13th among the 47 competing vehicles.