Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1104607
50 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2019 Dunn: Wow, Australia? That must have been an exciting experience. Olson: I was selected as a race crew member, so I was able to travel to Australia with the team in the fall of 2017, which was an incred- ible experience. Our team was amazing, and we got to bond with these people and develop relationships that we may have forever. We had around 20 people on our team. Typically, everyone is over there for at least a month, but most likely longer. A lot of us stayed and even traveled for a couple of weeks after the event was over. Most of the team ends up taking the semes- ter off. That made the decision to go difficult given my age and desire to graduate as quickly as possible, but I don't regret it one bit. As I said, the whole experience was an absolute blast from the interactions with other solar car teams from all over the world to the stress of finishing the car and preparing the car. It's one of those experiences you hear about that sounds too cool for you to ever experience yourself. It's truly something that I will never forget. Dunn: I'm envious of that experience. What a fantastic opportunity. I also know that you have been involved in a leadership role for the race team. Can you tell me a little about that experience? Olson: As I mentioned, I became heavily in- volved with the team when I came to the Uni- versity of Minnesota. I spent every minute with the team, which eventually led to me getting offered a leadership position. After I returned from the World Solar Challenge in the fall of 2017, I became the controls team manager, so I oversaw 20–30 students primarily majoring in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science. I learned a lot from my leadership role. It's funny that I went back to school for the technical nature of en- gineering and ended up with a man- agement role. The time a leadership position requires took away from the time I would have rather spent work- ing on the technical side of things. But overall, it was worth it. The po- sition allowed me to push myself in new ways and showed me a lot about myself, including weaknesses I didn't know I had that I've been able to work on and strengths I didn't know I had that I've been able to foster. The role has given me confidence that some- day I can handle a managerial role. Now, I'm no longer the controls team manager; I've moved into the role of electrical advisor for the team, Figure 4: Ross traveling in Australia and New Zealand while attending the World Solar Challenge. Figure 5: Ross visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand.