Model and educational solar races Solar vehicle technology can be applied on a small scale, which makes it ideal for educational purposes in the STEM areas. Some events are: Model Solar Vehicle Challenge Victoria The Victorian Model Solar Vehicle Challenge is an engineering competition undertaken by students across Victoria, year 1 to Year 12. Students design and construct their own vehicle, be it a car or boat. This event is currently held at ScienceWorks (Melbourne) in October each year. The first event was held in 1986. The goal of the challenge is to provide students with an experience of what it is like to work in STEM and to understand what can be achieved with renewable technology. Junior Solar Sprint Junior Solar Sprint was created in the 1980s by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to teach younger children about the importance and challenges of using renewable energy. The project also teaches students how the engineering process is applied, and how solar panels, transmission, and aerodynamics can be used in practice. Speed records Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) The FIA recognise a land speed record for vehicles powered only by solar panels. The current record was set by the Solar Team Twente, of the University of Twente with their car SolUTra. The record of 37.757 km/h was set in 2005. The record takes place over a flying 1000m run, and is the average speed of 2 runs in opposite directions. In July, 2014, a group of Australian students from the UNSW Sunswift solar racing team at the University of New South Wales broke a world record in their solar car, for the fastest electric car weighing less than and capable of travelling on a single battery charge. This particular record was overseen by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport on behalf of the FIA and is not exclusive to solar-powered cars but to any electric car, and so during the attempt, the solar panels were disconnected from the electrical systems. The previous record of - which had been set in 1988 - was broken by the team with an average speed of over the distance. Guinness world record Guinness World Records recognize a land speed record for vehicles powered only by solar panels. This record is currently held by the University of New South Wales with the car Sunswift IV. Its battery was removed so the vehicle was powered only by