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In October Aurora joined 38 teams from 21 countries in the 2011 Veolia World Solar Challenge.

The Challenge saw the teams racing each other – using the power of the sun – on the 3,021km journey from Darwin to Adelaide.

Despite a budget just 5 – 10 per cent of the budget of the top teams, Aurora finished ahead of several prestigious institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA), Stanford University (USA) and pre-challenge favourites Group T University (Belgium) sponsored by solar cell company Umicore.

Throughout October, Aurora’s education duo Martin Brook and Nick Grant made their way through the Northern Territory stopping a Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and Port Augusta.

Beginning only days before the Veolia 2011 World Solar Challenge, the program gave insight to the communities of what the challenge is about and showcased the cars and the technology that underpins them.

Demonstrating Southern Aurora in live driving demos Aurora provided an unusual experience to the isolated communities of the outback.

Along with educational partners RiAus, the team was also joined by Discovery Channel presenter Dr. Zoz Brooks who was able to successfully cook damper for the residents of Tennant Creek using a solar-powered oven.

Education Outreach Program leader Martin Brook said the chance to interact with these communities was rare and that his team enjoyed every moment of it.

“To be able to give the students and members of these communities the chance to see cutting edge sustainable mobility technology is great,” he said.

“We are providing a service to the public and showing them that Solar does have practical uses whether that be through Zoz Brooks’ solar-powered oven or with Southern Aurora.”

At every stop the education program visited a school in the local community and were greeted by eager students from kindergarten to year 12.

“They (the students) make you feel like you aren’t just talking at them, but that they do take in what you're saying,” Martin Brook said.

“It’s great that we can let them get up close and personal with a solar car and Southern Aurora makes for a great educational tool.

The program finished with a bang in Victoria Square where Aurora gave public speeches and viral interviews including an interview with Susan Sun Nunamaker from http://sunisthefuture.net.

Michelin Press Manager Jane Rowe joined the team in Victoria Square to support the educational program by providing insight to Michelin's solar car racing developed tyre.

Auroras education duo along with Zoz Brooks fielded interviews from WIN news, ABC news and local media throughout the duration of the program.

The Aurora Educational Outreach program thanks the Royal Institute of Australia for their assistance in helping coordinate the program and the World Solar Challenge for making this whole experience possible.

Aurora continued south to Coober Pedy with the World Solar Challenge Outreach Program and spent the morning at the Lions Information Centre and later moving on to Coober Pedy Area School.

The team gave passers by their undivided attention as some members of the community came and visited them at the Lions Information Centre.

Around Midday the Melbourne Cup visited the team as apart of the Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour and Education Outreach leader Martin Brook gave a radio interview to ABC and talked about the challenges of driving a solar race car, including how hot it could get up to in the drivers seat.

Coober Pedy Area School provided a larger crowd and their arrival soon after the team arrived meant that the locals were able to see the car get unpacked.

Speaking to kids from kindergarten to year 12, the Aurora duo made an impression on the younger members of the community and showed off Southern Aurora in driving demos on nearby basketball courts.

The World Solar Challenge provided drink bottles again to keep everyone hydrated and the event received a positive response from the kids, some even going to ‘like’ auroras facebook page

Aurora Education Outreach leader Martin Brook said he was happy with the turn out at Coober Pedy in the afternoon and was glad that the school children were eager to ask questions and listen.

“They (the students) make you feel like you aren’t just talking at them, but that they do take in what you're saying,” he said.

“It’s great that we can let them get up close and personal with a solar car and Southern Aurora makes for a great educational tool.

“We are lucky to have a fully working car available to give the communities that we visit driving demo’s.”

The team will head to Port Augusta tomorrow in preparation for Wednesday’s presentation at Gladstone Square.

Aurora went on display again today with Southern Aurora, this time in Alice Springs at Todd Mall accompanied by RiAus and Discovery Channel presenter Dr. Zoz Brooks.

Northern Territory Events and World Solar Challenge representatives also joined in the fun and provided water bottles for visitors as Aurora entertained a slightly different crowd.

The Aurora team were visited by around 500 people during the day ranging from tradesmen, students, tourists and those from the local community.

Students that had competed in the local model solar car competition also came down to check out the team.

Aurora Educational Outreach Leader Martin Brook today gave interviews to two local radio stations about the science of solar cars as well as the future of solar cars.

“Being a Melbourne based team it means that we don’t often get to visit a lot of these communities and so It’s great to see how interested they get in the World Solar Challenge and our solar cars,” he said.

RiAus documented Aurora team member Nick Grant demonstrating how to get into a solar car which can be seen here .

Meanwhile back at Hidden Valley, the racing team successfully completed dynamic scrutineering and prepares for an early start tomorrow morning.

Regular updates and pictures can be seen on Aurora’s public facebook page .

Continuing on with their World Solar Challenge Outreach Program journey, today saw Aurora arrive in Tennant Creek to spend the morning at Tennant Creek Primary School and the afternoon at Peko Park.

Aurora Education Outreach leader Martin Brook and team member Nick Grant spent the morning with an audience of just over 400 primary school students.

The duo presented live driving demos in Southern Aurora and fielded the standard questions from the students including how fast could it go and whether it could run at night.

RiAus and Dr. Zoz Brooks, a Discovery Channel presenter, demonstrated their solar oven and managed to successfully cook Damper for the students and teachers.

The afternoon was pleasantly spent at Peko Park with more driving demos in Southern Aurora but this time for a larger audience.

Community members and high school students joined the fun and discussed the future of solar cars,  the science behind them and some detailed information like what tyres would be used in the race.

Aurora Evolution will undergo static scrutineering and dynamic scrutineering on Saturday in preparation for the launch of the race early Sunday morning.

Aurora's own Andris Samsons can be seen here giving an interview with RiAus and Veolia World Solar Challenge Director, Chris Selwood.

Aurora kicked off the World Solar Challenge Outreach Program at Katherine in the Northern Territory today along with members of RiAus and Discovery Channel presenter Zoz Brooks.

Aurora spent the morning at Katherine High School educating students from years 7-11 about sustainable mobility, as well as providing some driving demos in Southern Aurora.

Aurora Education Outreach leader Martin Brook said that he and fellow Aurora teammate Nick Grant were introduced to the world of solar car racing through competitions they entered as high school students.

“Its important to get out there and educate the future generations about solar cars and sustainable mobility,” he said.

“These students we talk to today are the future and so we try and make a positive impression and demonstrate what can be achieved with technology available today.”

The afternoon saw Aurora and Riaus presenting to the general community at Ryan Park. The event afforded Aurora more chances to spread the word of sustainable mobility to a wider public.

Martin and Nick fielded questions from all walks of life within the community ranging from how fast Southern Aurora can go to what education you had to have to be apart of a solar car racing team.

The Outreach Program moves on to Tennant Creek on Wednesday for more solar car fun. In the meantime check out the Aurora facebook page as well as the World Solar Challenge page for pictures and status updates.

Aurora’s Andris Samsons shares a ‘Day in the life of a World Solar Challenge driver’ with Riaus here .