Traveling more than 1,800 miles across the Australian outback in a standard automobile is an extremely tough challenge for any driver. Imagine how much more difficult it is to traverse this harsh terrain in a solar-powered vehicle with little or no track record of reliability. This latter scenario is the basis of the Bridgestone Solar World Challenge (SWC), which has taken place biennially since 1987 and draws hundreds of entrepreneur and student participants from leading international universities and technical institutes.