Recipe for success

The NASC is one of the premier student engineering competitions in North America. Teams spend years working on their vehicles, carefully designing, building, and testing every component, and are constantly making improvements in search of optimum efficiency and performance.

So what’s the one big upgrade to the Red River Raycer that most other teams have taken notice of in 2008? It’s this guy!

After hearing about the super-sized dining experiences of the 2005 Raycer squad, RRC organizers recruited Culinary Arts student Thomas Marks to join the team on the road this time around. Tom has been ensuring his teammates are well fueled with a healthy mix of fresh sandwiches and salads, and some standout dinners, like this plate of seasoned center loin pork chops, tomato rizzoto, pan fried carrots and salad:

Not surprisingly, food like this has been drawing envious glances from other teams. And as much as our guys have enjoyed saying, “What, you mean you don’t have a chef?” to their competitors, they decided it would be nice to share Tom’s talents with the rest of the group by hosting a BBQ/potluck for all the NASC teams on Wednesday night.

While the University of Calgary reports that “the Red River chef just about swoons in the heat shimmer around the barbecue,” we’re happy to say that Tom managed to survive. He and the entire Raycer team put together a great dinner and a wonderful display of sportsmanship on behalf of the College.