Andrew Larkey
Major:
Mechanical Engineering (2021)
Hometown:
Bridgewater, NJ
Andrew just completed his freshman year at the University of Illinois and loves how the hands on work Illini Solar Car’s mechanical group gets to do is comparable to industry. The team goes through the engineering design cycle the same way professional companies do. Andrew had the opportunity to be the lead on a project that will be debuting at the American Solar Challenge: Argo’s new top shell latching system! He’s super excited to see the system in action at the race. He also can’t wait to be together with everyone on the team and drive through the beautiful landscapes on the ASC route. In high school, Andrew built a racing quadcopter, played varsity baseball, and learned everything he knows about cars from listening to the world’s funniest radio show, “Car Talk”. He’s spending his summer interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on the Mars 2020 Rover’s sample acquisition system.
“We are lucky enough to be able to work with advanced materials and have access to great facilities that most people won’t be able to see until they get into industry.”