Bay Area Circuits, Inc., a leading quick-turn manufacturer of printed circuit boards (PCBs), recently provided PCB manufacturing support to collegiate solar vehicle teams through its PCBs for Education program. The CalSol (UC Berkeley) & UF Solar Gators (University of Florida) solar vehicle teams participated in the 2017 Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) hosted at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, TX, July 3-8, 2017, and both achieved incredible success.

After 24 total hours of racing, and for the first time in CalSol’s 27-year history as a solar vehicle organization, the team won first place, beating out 17 other teams from prestigious universities across the world. In doing so, the team set two track records; most laps in a day (82) and most laps at the Circuit of The Americas by a solar car (228). “The circuit boards which Bay Area Circuits has provided us with over the years have been invaluable in allowing our electrical team to design the electrical system for our vehicle,” said Hersh Sanghvi, Electrical Lead, CalSol. “We’re confident that our continued partnership will bring future success as we manufacture our new car for next year’s competitions.”

The UF Solar Gators, in their first year of competition, reached their goal of passing the “scrutineering” process and completing a lap on the track, an accomplishment most first-year teams fail to achieve. “Bay Area Circuits’ lightning quick turnaround time on our designs took an immense amount of stress off our electrical team as we had less than a month to finish over 75% of the car’s systems,” said Vrushank Desai, Treasurer, UF Solar Gators. “Bay Area Circuits’ contribution of PCBs really helped us out in becoming the first team from the Sunshine State to qualify for an international solar racing competition.”

Bay Area Circuits’ PCBs for Education program is dedicated to helping future engineers by actively partnering with professors and students in support of their classroom engineering projects and team competitions by donating printed circuit board manufacturing services.  

About Bay Area Circuits Inc.

Founded in 1975 by the late Lawrence Nobriga, Bay Area Circuits  has been serving the PCB manufacturing needs of high-tech electronics manufacturers, contract assemblers and design engineers for over 40 years. By focusing on quick-turn prototyping and production while leveraging innovative, high quality designs, Bay Area Circuits has become the premiere PCB supplier for discerning customers around the world.

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