The five girls did not know each other, but from the very first year at the University of Patras, they were united by a common interest in the all-Greek chemical engineering competition. Due to the coronovirus, the competition was not held for two years, but last year, in their third year, they saw on the list that they were the only girls registered to participate. And then they had the same idea: to join forces and represent their university in competitions with a women’s team. The challenge was to design and build an innovative energy wheelchair that moves and stops solely by chemical means over a certain distance. “Because we are in engineering school and because of the design of wheelchairs, everyone thinks these tests are for boys. We wanted to show that we can also succeed,” K explains.

“At first we thought it would be something simple,” they say today. “How would we work for several hours a day, and that would be enough, maybe too much, but in the end we devoted ourselves completely to the Oscar for half a year. That’s what they call a wheelchair; from car (car in English) and the chemical element OS. They named their team Lamborgenious.

They began by studying the literature to come up with the mechanisms they would use, and then proceeded to design and experiment. The university covered the costs (800 euros) and provided them with a laboratory. On the way, he also gave them the keys, because the girls wanted to stay up late, often after midnight, as the university was empty. They recall that one night they were working in the dark and were so absorbed in their work that they flinched when someone suddenly shone a flashlight on them. He was also a scared university security guard. They were cleaning the zinc, and the sound echoed throughout the building. Since then, every night he turned on the light in the floor for them until they left. At the same time, they watched the oldest world competitions, which are held annually in America. Where the cream of every country’s varsity teams compete. No one went to America, and participation in competitions of this level was the dream of all five. When they qualified for the first stage and were supposed to represent their university in the Hellenic competition, their participation in the world competition no longer seemed so incredible.

“Two days before the final, we felt like it was all over. Everything went wrong, the mechanisms broke. It knocked us down, but we decided not to give up. We took pancakes and blankets from home and spent the whole night experimenting in the school hallway. In the morning the stroller worked again, as we wanted. It was a unique moment,” they recall.

With hard work, imagination, and countless late nights, they have built an innovative energy wheelchair that moves and stops purely by chemical means.

On the day of the competition, despite the fatigue and insomnia, they experienced incredible excitement and joy. In the car, they loudly sang “We are the champions” and promised each other to enjoy themselves. When they entered the room, they saw a full gallery: the people in the machine shop, the female researchers from the nearby lab who helped them, the members of the robotics club where they printed the latest Oscar gears, even the students. who did not know them personally, but were inspired by the quintet, which worked tirelessly for six months. The girls were amazed at how many people came to support them. But they agreed because they were faced with a difficult test: they were told how many meters the wheelchair would have to travel, and they had an hour to adjust the battery and mechanism so that the Oscar could run and get as close to the goal as possible. . When they realized that they had won first place and therefore their participation in America’s world competition, they were overcome with emotion. Apart from the important difference, they have now become a really close company. Angelica Solow, who is absolutely precise in her experiments, Valentini Vassiliou, who organized the team, Irini Mikou, who always has useful ideas and observations, Erifili Moraiti, a calm force who kept her balance, and Sophia Savelona, ​​who kept them alert with her excitement. They went on vacation together, and although they agreed to take a break from the Oscars, he monopolized their conversations every day.

They returned to Patras and the Polytechnic just after August 15 to prepare for their next big challenge: competing in Arizona in early November. Plastics of Crete has already contacted them and, without knowing them personally, will pay for the plane tickets. But they set aside the rest of the expenses and realized that neither the university nor they themselves could cover them. Will the dream be half completed? They started looking for sponsors and set up an online fundraising campaign. They were touched when they saw that not only friends but also strangers pay a deposit, some even 3 euros, so that they can travel.

“The competition there is huge. The 39 best teams in the world participating are very organized, usually numerous, and some of them have been working on their own cars for years. But we have proven that with hard work we can keep up with them.” And let them succeed.