Our Story

In 2007, first-year University of Calgary business student Mark Blackwell and Halley O'Byrne was surfing the Internet. They had already created a new students’ association focused on sustainable energy and the environment.

But a faculty member challenged them to come up with “a really big idea” that would engage and inspire students and the campus and broader communities. Mark and Halley happened upon the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon website. Now here was a really big idea! They decided on the spot that he wanted to bring together the brightest students he could find, along with faculty and staff on campus and partners in the community, to prepare an entry for the 2009 Solar Decathlon. Mark and Halley's enthusiasm for the project attracted Matt Beck, a U of C graduate student in environmental design.

They quickly realized that such a huge and complex project needed the support, talents and resources of more than one post-secondary school. Together, they met with and secured the participation by students, faculty and staff at three additional schools: SAIT Polytechnic, Mount Royal College and the Alberta College of Art + Design. The partners formed a “Core Team” (a steering committee), led by students from all four partnering schools, to organize and plan the project and seek corporate and government support and partners.

Mark Blackwell became the project chair, Matt Beck the project manager. At well-attended news conferences, the presidents of the four partnering schools signed an agreement on the project – the first time these schools had collaborated on such a venture. We called ourselves the Alberta Solar Decathlon Team – Team Alberta for the 2009 Solar Decathlon. We created our vision and our values and we’ve never looked back – except to learn from our mistakes!