A person with short brown hair sitting in a DIY car

Marty Rygh is a senior at Montana State University in Electrical Engineering. Originally from Alaska, he received varsity letters in four different high school sports. As an MSU undergraduate, Marty currently works on the Bridger Solar Team as the electrical team lead building a race car that will run entirely on solar power. Here is part of his story.

Growing up in Anchorage, I was on the robotics team and captain of the cross-country running team in high school. Since childhood, I’ve always been building and crafting things. In elementary school, we made trailers for our bikes to go around the neighborhood and mow people’s lawns. We made a bunch of money and called our small business Dragon Wagon.

I came to Montana for the engineering program as Bozeman is really similar to Anchorage, in the way there is a lot to do outside like skiing and climbing. For one of my personal projects, I used a shop in Alaska to fabricate a pair of all-mountain style skis and then mounted the bindings using the makerspace in Norm Asbjornson Hall. So far, I’ve made three pairs of skis, going through the entire process, buying the fiberglass and epoxy, shaping the core, and putting the edges on the bases.

Then last year, I became the lead electrical engineer for the Bridger Solar team, and after this semester, I’ll be President, which is a lot of obligations. We’re trying to go racing this summer, which would be super cool. It’s called the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I forgot what the track is called. It’s not a Formula One track, but it’s a similar style to that.

The race is a three-day endurance race, however far you can drive in three days. It’s not necessarily about how fast your car can go but how efficient the solar car is. You’re allowed to start with a fully charged battery, but while you are racing, you can only charge the race car using the sun.

We are making a carbon fiber skin for the outside of the race car. Right now, it’s only the frame in aluminum tubing and you can see that in the picture. The capstone team is making an aerodynamic shell around that frame and a place to put the solar panels on a flat deck. We are super fortunate to have a sponsor from Norplex, a composite company in Bozeman, that gave us carbon fiber and fiberglass sheets. So hopefully, it’ll stay light.