University of Arizona

Students at the Engineering 102 High School and Solar Oven Throw Down at the University of Arizona on Oct. 12, 2023.

Saguaro Land is a series from The Show looking at the Sonoran Desert — the lushest, hottest desert in the world that happens to be our home.

This time, The Show is talking food. But, not anything cooked in a fancy kitchen — or in a kitchen at all.

It's a solar oven throw down. Last month, more than 400 engineering students at the University of Arizona took part in the obviously outdoors competition using no gas and no electricity, just the Sonoran Desert sun to heat up their ovens.  

Byron Hempel, a professor of practice in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department at UA, says he’s taken part in the solar over throw down for the past few years, and in fact, this was the first year he wasn’t an active participantHempel spoke with The Show about the event. 

University of Arizona

Byron Hempel

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