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Burnout
As pretty much all university students know, burnout is an issue not to be taken lightly. The team Midnight Sun has already had multiple mechanical leads drop out due to high stress. , which is throws a wrench in the progress of the car as the team is left scrambling to find and train people to fill the role - a hectic process that only contributes to the burnout loop. This problem was is what drove a the re-evaluation of the Interiors leadership structure, which led to the creation of this onboarding page.
New Leadership System
One of the main causes of leads stepping down is the large amount of responsibility put on the shoulders of one or a few or even one personpeople. To counter this, Interiors is implementing a Co-Lead system as of S2021. This “core” team will consist of:
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Along with the PM, this ensures at least 1 fully active Interiors lead per term, and 2 Leads overall. Hopefully, this system will allow for the equal division of responsibilities and less work for the individual.
This system is open to changes in the future.
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LEAD/CO-LEAD
The purpose of the Interiors Lead can be summarized by 2 responsibilities:
To provide opportunities for the Interiors team members to be the best versions of themselves (Student-focused)
To ensure all Interiors projects are progressing in a timely manner in the direction of completing the car (Vehicle-focused)
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Manage all Interiors projects at a high-level.
Maintain team morale and make sure members are engaged and learning new things.
Organize new member onboarding and info sessions at the beginning of every term.
Run Interiors check-ins once a week as well as any relevant work sessions.
Attend Mech Leads and Lead/Core check-ins every week (usually Saturdays)Saturday.
Answer questions from team members and provide feedback, whether technical or not.
Hold formal design reviews intermittently when necessary.
Make sure all project documentation is up to date.
Communicate with other subteam leads and relevant stakeholders (companies, alumni, etc.).
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Manage the Interiors timeline and all project timelines.
Manage the Interiors budget and all purchases.
Run Attend/run Interiors check-ins once a week
Organize new member onboarding and info sessions at the beginning of every term.
Attend Mech Leads and Lead/Core check-ins every week (usually Saturdays).
Coordinate with the Midnight Sun PM in securing funding and sponsorships (MEF, WEEF, etc.)
Answer questions from team members and provide feedback, whether technical or not.
Communicate with other subteam leads and relevant stakeholders (companies, alumni, etc.).
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This section contains the general resources that have been used to run the Interiors team and other links that may be useful. It is recommended that the Lead and PM bookmark these or keep them handy for quick access.
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Interiors Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mTB05GdzoTxcDpE9awEW3MNa5lKMXUd1
Interiors Trello: https://trello.com/invite/b/F7SdhEEB/17efc707aec9349bd5e54ba6c029e010/mech-interior
American Solar Challenge Regulations: https://www.americansolarchallenge.org/regulations/2021-american-solar-challenge-regulations/ (THIS IS YOUR BIBLE)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_XDqCpIg1z6k9maFaTmQGUlQ4p_d_Bkb1guVfNbqQGuRllg/viewform
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevkENOnpumtVIkuZlAJ_JRXk15L1TX4YKlqNh4SkhlfsX4Yg/viewform
Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vp6A0FHNL0
Step-by-step composites demos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ_hDSBpqqCe6_R7L_BhqjQ
Report on composite sandwich structures
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Important Things to Keep in Mind
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Any lead position on Midnight Sun requires a greater time commitment and more responsiblity, since leads have much more a larger stake in the completion of the car. Naturally, the lead position attracts those who are willing to put in the blood, sweat and tears to get this car out on the road, so commitment isn’t a problem. However, each person everyone has different priorities and there is absolutely no expectation that leads give themselves entirely to the team 24/7- it's just a matter of time management, knowing your limits and most importantly, communication.
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Maybe you’re ready to step back into an advisor position, or you’re academic, co-op or personal lives are getting too busy hectic and you can’t make time for Midnight Sun anymore. What do you do then?
Obviously one of our team goals is to be sustainable. It is quite difficult to start a student team after it’s members have completely disbanded, let alone a new student team from scratch. And Midnight Sun has been in this situation before where the team, in a sense, fizzled out and was only later brought back to life by some committed students for their fourth year design project.
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The most important thing about scouting these members is that they have to be willing to be a lead. This is a student team after all and nobody is getting paid, so all you have is are people’s interest. No point in passing responsibility onto someone who isn’t fully invested in sticking around.
There is no step-by-step guide on how to find the right lead or PM candidate - mostly it’s due to chance. Fortunately Midnight Sun is a well-established team with a lengthy history so of attracting talent isn’t that hard (also…Waterloo). It’s But it’s on you as the current lead to make joining the team as fun and rewarding as you canpossible.
If you get stuckare a current lead and are feeling lost, just remember why you became one.
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