The effort to go green in building materials added to the challenges for the Loyola Marymount Senior Mechanical Engineers team at Shell Eco-marathon Americans 2013. Senior Van Weller explained that the team chose lightweight bamboo for the body of its gasoline-powered prototype vehicle, the Gen 5, and spiffed it up with gold paint. Unfortunately, the team had a long drive across the desert from Los Angeles to Houston, and somewhere in Arizona, the body of the car began to warp and bow.

They spent some time before the competition started trying to figure out how to reshape the car, figuring the best solution would be for the driver’s head in the open. The car made it onto the track, and