Are you working to become a motorsports engineer or pursuing a degree in motorsports engineering? Or interested in a career in racing? Then you’ve probably heard of Formula SAE. But do you really know what the program entails? Let’s explore Formula SAE and what it can mean to your motorsports engineering future.
Formula SAE is a racecar design competition for students that is organized and run by SAE International (formerly known as the Society for Automotive Engineers). The original concept was that a fictional manufacturing company has contracted a design team to develop a small Formula-style race car. But today, the main undertaking is to design, produce, test and race a prototype race car at the annual competition in May.
There are two competitions each year – one in California and one in Michigan. The Michigan competition is the largest and longest running.
Chances are, the school that you are attending already has an existing Formula SAE team. If not, you can form one, but that’s a much more involved topic and will require contacting SAE International directly.
The great thing about joining an existing Formula SAE team is they already have a foundation laid for the organizational structure of the team – they have a faculty adviser, an established workspace and equipment, and upperclassmen that have already participated in a Formula SAE competition.
Both the faculty adviser and the upperclassmen are great resources for you, and should be appreciated and utilized as you begin your Formula SAE journey. They will be valuable both in terms of the competition and in the future, as they clearly have interest in motorsports engineering like you do (and it’s a very small industry!).
Preparation for the competition (designing and building the car) usually begins within the first few weeks of the semester so it’s important to identify the person in charge of the team quickly to sign up and get started. One of the first things the team does is identify potential team members and look for sponsorship. Getting in on the ground floor will expose you to a variety of aspects of motorsports education.
Before you enter into this process, you should also understand the safety risks of participating in the project. You will be exposed to a variety of machinery and tools in addition to the actual race car. Being careful and aware of your surroundings at all times is crucial to the success of the program overall.
Then comes the fun part: motorsports engineering! You design the car from the ground up. Very little on a race car is new, and Formula SAE isn’t the place to develop new technology. Unfortunately, teams do not have the time or budget to come up with technological breakthroughs. But that’s not a bad thing. Designing and building a car from scratch takes a lot more time and effort than it would seem, and it’s more important to understand the basic principles of motorsports engineering than jump directly into automotive technology breakthroughs.
No matter what function, if you are interested in motorsports engineering or a career in racing, you should be taking advantage of one of the few applied motorsports education activities that are available at some schools and participating in Formula SAE. Don’t worry – you’ll enjoy it!
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