Female engineering student helps create latest solar car – Western Sydney University

Nina Walters is a 19-year-old Bachelor of Engineering student, majoring in Mechatronics and Robotics.
Nina first discovered the solar car team after attending the University’s Open Day. Instantly catching her attention, she found out more at the engineering orientation day before joining the team.
Originally starting as a mechanical member on the team, Nina worked on the chassis and manufacturing for the new car. Since then, she has evolved her role and is now a project officer, handling much of the team’s admin, planning and logistics.
The beauty of being a part of the solar car team is that Nina can utilise many of her skills to support the team as well as learn new skills along the way.
“I was able to work with a few other team members to do a lot of the composite layup for the chassis of the car that we actually built entirely in house on the Kingswood campus.”
“I also still work within the mechanical team and often float between helping out other sub teams including partnerships and communications.”
The solar car experience has also helped to shape Nina’s plans for the future, as she thinks beyond her time at university.
“Solar car is a life changing experience. Since being on the team I’ve grown so much as a person and I’ve had the chance to gain so many new skills that I’ll one day be able to use in my career.”
“I would love to go into something car related whether that’s a car design engineer position or a race team engineer. I would also love to go into a project management role within engineering.”
As the team prepare for the upcoming competition, Nina is excited to embark on her first race cycle in her second year with the team.
“We’ve taken a lot of time to take what the team has learnt in previous cycles into consideration, and this has allowed us to become a much stronger team.”
“So far this race cycle I’ve watched everyone develop their skills relating to their position on the team and become more confident in their work and position, including myself.
“Being able to see everyone develop is one of the most rewarding parts of being on the team.”
Reflecting on her time in the team before they head off for the competition, Nina says it feels like one big family.
“To be able to work on such an innovative and interesting project with your best friends is amazing.”
“The skills, connections and friends you gain from being on the team will be with you for life and will shape your future more than you could ever imagine.”
ENDS
12 September 2023
Lauren Austin, Senior Media Officer
Photo credit: Jonathan Allen
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