We survived finals week at UC Santa Barbara and instead of kicking back for Spring Break, we hit the road to Houston, Texas, for the 2012 Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition.

Our car “Eleanor” is looking sharp. The paint job on the aerodynamic fairing was finished in time to exhibit at the Wall Street Journal ECO:nomics Conference last week, where we were invited to display our car and talk to business and technology leaders about the competition. At the conference, people were enthusiastic about the vehicle and the competition all around. Great way to kick off!

This year we’re competing again in the Futuristic Prototype category, meaning you design the most streamlined vehicle possible to reduce drag. Shell Eco-marathon competitors have