MS XIV Project Shut Down Emails + Announcements

Sponsor Email

Hello ____,

I hope you have been well and stayed safe during these times.

My name is Kristen/Catherine, the Operations/Project Manager for the UW Midnight Sun Solar Car Team. I would like to start off by thanking you and __sponsor name__ for your continued support of our team over the course of our current project, MS XIV. [insert sponsor-specific thank you]

As a trusted and valued partner, we have made it a priority to provide you with an update on our project’s status and direction.

As you know, we have been designing and manufacturing our thirteenth solar car vehicle, MS XIV, since late 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we extended this project cycle until 2022, which is when the next American Solar Challenge will be held. We put in our best efforts to overcome the several challenges which included having limited access to our workbay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the navigation through knowledge transfer of members that transitioned into advisory positions due to graduation or otherwise.

To provide more background, the design for MS XIV was completed in late 2019 and once the pandemic hit in early 2020, we saw many of the designers step back from their lead positions. Newer members rose to the challenge to fill their shoes to commence manufacturing. However, we have experienced many difficulties due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, problem solving, and changes in design, in which the knowledge had not been properly handed off to the members who filled in the shoes of the previous leads.

Thus, we have made the difficult decision to terminate MS XIV and start fresh as a team. While we will not be attending the 2022 ASC with MS XIV, we will be taking the time to reflect on our learnings and put in our best efforts to design a vehicle that will once again, showcase the development and technical abilities of Midnight Sun’s students, and continue to push the boundaries of solar transportation.

We really appreciate your generous sponsorship and we hope that with our next project, we will live up to our achievements of previous years.

If you would like to discuss additional details behind this decision, we would be more than happy to have a call or further correspondence over email throughout the next few weeks.

Thank you again for your support and we hope our partnership can continue well in the future. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Social Media Announcement

First off, we would like to thank everyone for your continued support of our team during these difficult times.

We first started the designing and manufacturing of our thirteenth solar car vehicle, MS XIV, in 2018 and have been continuing to work on it since. And due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we extended this project cycle until 2022, which is when the next American Solar Challenge will be held. We put in our best efforts to overcome the several challenges which included having limited access to our workbay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, issues in supply chain, and the navigation through knowledge transfer of members that transitioned into advisory positions due to graduation or otherwise.

However, with the design for MS XIV being completed in late 2019 and the start of the pandemic in early 2020, we saw many of our designers step back from their lead positions. Newer members rose to the challenge to fill their shoes to commence manufacturing. However, we still faced numerous difficulties due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, problem-solving, and design changes.

Thus, we have made the difficult decision to terminate MS XIV and start fresh as a team. While we will not be attending the 2022 ASC with MS XIV, we will be taking the time to reflect on our learnings and put in our best efforts to design a vehicle that will once again, showcase the individual development and technical abilities of Midnight Sun’s students, and continue to push the boundaries of solar transportation.

We greatly appreciate everyone’s support and we hope that with our next project, we will live up to our achievements of previous years.

Thank you again and we wish all other 2022 ASC teams, the best of luck!