Automotive Engineering - August 2023 - 26

A FORMULA FOR
REAL-WORLD
EXPERIENCE
The louvers on the
vertical members of
Illinois' wing were a
rare sight at MIS. The
team said they allow
pressure to escape to
the sides instead of
all going up and over.
we're an above-average testing team, " he said, saying the team used
copious amounts of data to hit the target of " neutral steering under
most conditions. We wanted the center of pressure to be more rearward
to prevent oversteer at high speeds. "
Our interview was interrupted when someone exclaimed. " This is
really important, everyone. The pizza is here. "
Riya Joshi is Illini Motorsports' composites lead.
weight. " The previously mentioned washers notwithstanding,
weight matters. Competitive cars at Formula
SAE tend to weigh less than 440 lb. (200 kg).
One truth that was underscored talking to the Illinois
team: Teams would have little success without specialists
on various systems of the car. So, there are students
who solely work on (while pitching in on other areas)
suspension, powertrain, brakes, aerodynamics and
more. During SAE Media's conversation with the Illini, a
person came up and asked a question about brakes.
" I'm just the aero guy, " replied Sudhir. " You need to talk
to Collin [Meyer, the team's electronics lead]. " So the
Formula SAE teams are analogs to their real-world
counterparts on race teams or at OEMs.
Sudhir said the team knew it had two high-level
drivers, and they tested extensively. " We like to think
26 August 2023
The value of PR
The teams don't just draw engineering students. Hannah Kennedy, a
senior PR major and the Oklahoma State team's co-lead for outreach
and social media, said that while she worked to gain the respect of
her mostly male teammates, said she felt accepted after everyone
began to understand her value in bringing eyeballs - and particularly
funding - to the program. " Now I feel like I'm part of a brotherhood, "
she said. " I feel so supported by my community. "
And speaking of funding, it was clear that funding matters and one
can't really make assumptions about funding merely based the name
of the university on the racecar.
Alex Butman, a mechanical engineering major who was graduating
from UCLA, said while the team isn't on a shoestring budget, it is not
swamped with backers, either. " We really don't have a ton of sponsors, "
he said. As part of their PR efforts, Michael Leggesse, the
Bruins' media committee chair and a senior sociology major, was
filming a documentary of the team's efforts at MIS.
And while Butman bemoaned the price of track time quoted by
one of Southern California's racetrack's most frequently used for testing
- by everyone from OEMs to pro racing teams - Leggesse said
they even found difficulty even getting permission to film the car on
campus. " We were trying to get permission to film the car on the
sidewalk on campus, " he said, continuing that the solution campus
officials agreed to was that the car had to be unpowered and manually
pushed for the shots they wanted.
All over the paddock, it seemed like last-minute solutions were the
order of the day. Underscoring the cooperative spirit among teams,
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
BOTH IMAGES: SAE/CHRIS CLONTS
Automotive Engineering - August 2023

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