Primary Job Title Chief Scientist Primary Organization 
World Solar Challenge
Gender Male
Qualifications: BSc(hons) in physics, PhD in chemistry
Primary area of interest: Ensuring that the event continues to challenge the smartest minds on the planet to apply innovative solutions to solar car design.
Years on the Faculty: Foundation Member of the Faculty.
John competed in the first World Solar Challenge in 1987 as a member of
“Team Marsupial”. He has not missed an event since, acting as a technical scrutineer and, more recently as, an inaugural member of the Scientific Faculty. Following his 1993 book “Solar Racing Cars” (with Art Schinckel and Chester Kyle), he co-wrote “Speed of Light”, an analysis of the 1996 World Solar Challenge and summary of the state-of the-art in solar car technology. When not soaking up the Central Australian sunshine, John is sometimes found on the high Antarctic plateau, where he and his colleagues operate the world’s only solar powered radioastronomical observatory.
