Furniture design student puts knowledge to practice with Appalachian’s solar vehicle team

View larger image — Industrial design major and Raleigh native John Lalevee poses with the unfinished solar vehicle, ROSE, which he helped design during the 2017–18 year. Photo submitted

By Meghan McCandless

Posted May 30, 2018 at 4:54 p.m.

BOONE, N.C. — During the 2017–18 year, industrial design student John Lalevee had the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream by designing the body of Appalachian State University’s newest solar vehicle, ROSE — which stands for Racing on Solar Energy.

In combining his expertise in furniture design with his enthusiasm for automobiles, Lalevee applied classroom knowledge toward a university initiative he was passionate about.

Lalevee, a rising senior from Raleigh, enrolled at Appalachian knowing he wanted to study industrial design in the university’s Department of Applied Design. He chose the furniture design concentration after taking a few courses from faculty who are also professional furniture designers. It was in these classes that he saw how furniture can have long-term utility and can be designed without creating much waste.

“Furniture has a unique ability to be designed very sustainably by using wood, a renewable resource. It’s also something that typically lasts a few decades and can function as an heirloom,” he said. “The program has excellent professors, each with unique approaches to what it means to be a designer, allowing us to develop our own design philosophies.”

Between his courses in the industrial design program and his work with Team Sunergy, Lalevee is able to obtain relevant work experience while developing and applying his design philosophy.

According to Lalevee, the program also encourages students to focus on side projects that inspire learning outside of the classroom. In fall 2017, he joined the university’s solar vehicle team, Team Sunergy, after he was recruited by a friend for his design skills. Since he had no previous experience in automobile design, he devoted countless hours to the project.

“I taught myself the software the team uses and really started digging in, learning new things like aerodynamics and composites, things a furniture designer might not normally get into,” he said. “As the designer of the car’s body, I had to work with just about every other person on the team to ensure all systems would work in the car.”

ROSE is the second solar vehicle of Team Sunergy, following Apperion, which the team raced during summers 2016 and 2017. ROSE will function both as a race car for the Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge this summer, and as a multi-occupant car designed to better promote solar transportation to the public. For this reason, Lalevee worked hard to ensure the design was aesthetically pleasing.

Dan Blakeley ’15 ’18, who was the team’s project director during the 2017–18 year, commended Lalevee’s work on ROSE.

“The job John has done speaks volumes to his dedication and his craft, which has only flourished because of the tools and training he received as an industrial design student,” Blakeley stated. “He has created an aerodynamic design and a highly efficient form along with a beautiful design.”

When Lalevee graduates, he dreams about opening his own design studio. Between his courses in the industrial design program and his work with Team Sunergy, he’s able to obtain relevant work experience while developing and applying his design philosophy both in the classroom and beyond.

“Team Sunergy gives me the opportunity to work on a multidisciplinary team as a designer — something I will do as a professional — and something that is hard to get in a classroom environment. I call upon the hard skills I learn in class almost every day, whether it’s 3D modeling, sketching or fabrication of parts,” he said. “I also get to ensure that this car means something. It’s not just an engineering exercise, it’s about shaping the future of personal transportation.”

Appalachian’s Solar Vehicle Team selects winning name for Cruiser Class car

May 9, 2018

Team Sunergy, Appalachian State University’s student-run solar vehicle team, chooses ROSE for the name of its new Cruiser Class solar car. ROSE stands for Racing on Solar Energy.

Read the story

About the Department of Applied Design

One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Department Applied Design at Appalachian State University fosters excellence in design education, design research and professional placement. The department balances theoretical and pragmatic approaches while exploring an awareness of impact through design decisions on the global community. Faculty focus on a holistic approach to creative problem-solving by integrating sustainability and ethical responsibility in teaching and practice. The department offers bachelor’s degrees in apparel design and merchandising, industrial design and interior design. Learn more at https://design.appstate.edu.

About Team Sunergy

Appalachian State University’s internationally recognized Team Sunergy is an interdisciplinary team with a passion for sustainable transportation — and the ingenuity, innovation and drive to create it. Its premier solar car, Apperion, gained national attention with top-three finishes in the 2016 and 2017 Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), an international collegiate endurance competition that sets the standards for and tests the limits of solar vehicle technology. In 2018, the team’s second, Cruiser Class car, ROSE (Racing on Solar Energy), placed third in the FSGP competition and tied for second place in the American Solar Challenge — an international solar vehicle distance road race held biennially by the Innovators Educational Foundation. In FSGP 2021, Team Sunergy captured second place in its class, advancing to the ASC and winning first place for multiple-occupant vehicles. Learn more at https://sunergy.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.