Formula SAE

Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers. The competition was started back in 1978 and was originally called [http://www.sae.org/students/fsaehistory.pdf SAE Mini Indy] .

The concept behind Formula SAE is that a fictional manufacturing company has contracted a student design team to develop a small Formula-style race car. The prototype race car is to be evaluated for its potential as a production item. The target marketing group for the race car is the non-professional weekend autocross racer. Each student team designs, builds and tests a prototype based on a series of rules, whose purpose is both ensuring on-track safety (the cars are driven by the students themselves) and promoting clever problem solving.

The prototype race car is judged in a number of different events. The points schedule for most Formula SAE events is:

From: Bob Woods, "1996 Formula SAE Rules", (Warrendale, PA) : Educational Relations SAE International, p. 4.

In addition to these events, various sponsors of the competition provide awards for superior design accomplishments. For example, best use of E-85 ethanol fuel, innovative use of electronics, recycliability, crash worthiness, and analytical approach to design are some of the awards available. At the beginning of the competition, the vehicle is checked for rule compliance during the Technical Inspection. Its braking ability, rollover stability and noise levels are checked before the vehicle is allowed to compete in the dynamic events (Skidpad, Autocross, Acceleration, Endurance and Fuel Economy).

Formula SAE encompasses all aspects of a business including research, design, manufacturing, testing, developing, marketing, management, and fund raising. Formula SAE takes students out of the class room and puts them in the real world.

Big companies, such as General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, can have staff interact with more than 1000 student engineers. Working in teams of anywhere between two and 30, these students have proved themselves to be capable of producing a functioning prototype vehicle. (Dean Case, Student Talent, "Racecar Engineering", Vol. 5 No. 3 (England): p. 35)

The volunteers for the design judging include some the racing industry's most prominent engineers and consultants including the late Carroll Smith, Bill Mitchell, Claude Rouelle, Jack Auld, John LePlante, and Bryan Kubala.

Today, the competition has expanded and includes a number of spinoff events. Formula Student is a similar SAE-sanctioned event in the UK, as well as Formula SAE Australasia taking place in Australia. A Formula SAE West division is taking place in California and the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) is holding the Formula Student Germany competition at Hockenheimring.

In 2007, an offshoot called Formula Hybrid, similar to Formula SAE except all cars must have gasoline-electric hybrid power plants, was inaugurated. The first two contests were held at the New Hampshire International Speedway. [http://www.formula-hybrid.org/competition.html]

History

In 1979 the only SAE Mini-Indy was held at the University of Houston. Conceived by Dr. Kurt M. Marshek, the competition was inspired by a how-to article that appeared in Popular Mechanics magazine, for a small, "Indy-style" vehicle made out of wood, and powered by a five horsepower Briggs and Stratton engine. Using the Mini Baja competitions as a guide, engineering students had to design and build small, "Indy-style" vehicles using the same stock engine used in the "Popular Mechanics" article. Thirteen schools entered and eleven competed, The University of Texas at El Paso won the overall competition.

Although Dr. William Shapton (who had recently left the University of Cincinnati to join Michigan Technological University) broached the idea of hosting a similar competition in 1980, no one stepped up to organize another Mini-Indy.

Three students at the University of Texas at Austin saw the potential and proposed a new mini-Indy with new rules. The new rules kept restriction to a minimum, any four-stroke engine with a 25.4 mm intake restriction. A new name was sought to differentiate the new event from mini-Indy. Students were to design a racing car which couldn't cost over a set amount "as evidenced by receipts".

The University of Texas at Austin hosted the competition through 1984. In 1985, the competition was hosted by The University of Texas at Arlington. There, Dr. Robert Woods, with guidance from the SAE student activities committee, changed the concept of the competition from one where students built a pure racing car, to one that mirrored the SAE Mini-Baja competitions, where they were to design and build a vehicle for limited series production.

General Motors hosted the competition in 1991, Ford Motor Co. in 1992, and Chrysler Corp. in 1993. After the 1992 competition, the three formed a consortium to run Formula SAE.

Winners

See also

* Student design competition
* Baja SAE
* Basic Utility Vehicle

External links

* [http://www.torque-india.com/sae.html About Formula SAE]
* [http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/fsae/ Formula SAE]
* [http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/west/ Formula SAE West]
* [http://www.imeche.org.uk/formulastudent/ Formula Student]
* [http://www.formulastudent.de Formula Student Germany]
* [http://www.jsae.or.jp/formula/ Formula SAE Japan]
* [http://www.ata.it/formulaata/ Formula SAE Italy]
* [http://www.saebrasil.org.br/ Formula SAE Brazil]
* [http://www.sae-a.com.au/fsae/index.htm Formula SAE Australasia]
* [http://event.formulastudent.ru SAE Formula Student, Mini Baja & Formula Hybrid Russia]
* [http://fsae.com/eve FSAE.com Forums - the "unoffical" forums for all competitions]
* [http://videos.howstuffworks.com/2007-naias-formula-sae-video.htm HowStuffWorks.com - How does a Formula SAE Car work?]

Team Links

* [http://rfr.rutgers.edu/ Rutgers University]
* [http://formulastudent.aston.ac.uk/ Aston University]
* [http://www.auracing.org Auburn University]
* [http://www.engin.brown.edu/organizations/fsae Brown University]
* [http://www.brunelracing.co.uk Brunel University]
* [http://www.csupomona.edu/fsae California Polytechnic State University Pomona]
* [http://www.formula.calpolysae.org California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo]
* [http://www.engr.colostate.edu/RamRacing Colorado State University - RamRacing]
* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sae/ Columbia University Formula SAE]
* [http://fsae.mae.cornell.edu/ Cornell FSAE]
* [http://www.clemsonfsae.com Clemson University FSAE]
* [http://www.chalmers.se/am/formula/ Chalmers Formula Student]
* [http://www.dutracing.nl/ Delft University of Technology Formula Student Team]
* [http://www.fsae.polymtl.ca/ Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal - EPM Motorsport]
* [http://www.mec.etsmtl.ca/club/formule/ Ecole de technologie supérieure ETS]
* [http://www.universityracing.nl/ Eindhoven University of Technology - University Racing Eindhoven]
* [http://www.fem.unicamp.br/~fsae Universidade Estadual de Campinas - Equipe FSAE-UNICAMP]
* [http://www.ferrisformula.com Ferris State University - Ferris Formula Racing]
* [http://www.me.gatech.edu/gtmotorsports Georgia Institute of Technology - GT Motorsports]
* [http://www.formula.stadia.fi Helsinki Polytechnic - Stadia Motorsport]
*Iowa State University - ISU Formula SAE
* [http://www.k-state.edu/sae/formula/ Kansas State University - Formula SAE]
* [http://www.kthracing.se KTH Racing]
* [http://www.lufsae.com/ Lakehead University - Thunder Wolf Racing]
* [http://web.mit.edu/fsae/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Motorsports]
* [http://fsae.mcgill.ca/ McGill University - McGill Racing Team]
* [http://www.miamiredhawkracing.com/ Miami University - Redhawk Racing]
* [http://www.egr.msu.edu/fsae/ Michigan State University - MSU Formula Racing]
* [http://www.msstate.edu/org/sae/ Mississippi State University - MSMotorsports]
* [http://fsae.mst.edu/ Missouri University of Science and Technology - Missouri S&T Racing (Formerly UMR)]
* [http://www.monashmotorsport.com/ Monash University - Monash Motorsport]
* [http://www.torque-india.com/ Torque India Racing Club]
* [http://serve.me.nus.edu.sg/fsae/ National University of Singapore - Team NUS Motorsports]
* [http://msgroups.mccormick.northwestern.edu/FSAE/ Northwestern University - Northwestern Formula Racing]
* [http://www.beaverracing.org Oregon State University - Beaver Racing]
* [http://www.formulabuckeyes.com Ohio State University - Formula Buckeyes]
* [http://fsae.poly.edu/ Polytechnic Institute of NYU - Poly Racing]
* [http://www.qutmotorsport.com Queensland University of Technology - QUT Motorsport]
* [http://www.rit.edu/~formula Rochester Institute of Technology FSAE]
* [http://www.formularpi.com/ Formula RPI] Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
* [http://www.fsae.rmit.edu.au/ RMIT University Formula SAE]
* [http://fsae.sdsu.edu/ San Diego State University Racing]
* [http://fsae.sdsmt.edu/ South Dakota School of Mines and Technology FSAE]
* [http://fsae.spsu.edu/ Southern Polytechnic State University FSAE]
* [http://www.stevens.edu/fsae Stevens Institute of Technology Formula SAE]
* [http://madi.formulastudent.ru Student's Engineering Group MADI (STU), Moscow, Russia]
* [http://www.swansea.ac.uk/motorsport Swansea University]
* [http://www.fasttube.de/ FaSTTUBe - Technical University of Berlin]
* [http://www.fsaeucv.org/ Universidad Central de Venezuela]
* [http://www.eteam-unipi.it/ Università di Pisa - E-Team Squadra Corse]
* [http://formula-sae.adelaide.edu.au/ University of Adelaide - University of Adelaide Racing Concepts]
* [http://www.engineering.uakron.edu/sae/ University of Akron - Zips Racing]
* [http://www.sae.eng.ua.edu/fsae University of Alabama - Crimson Racing]
* [http://chargermotorsports.pacificsouth.net/ University of Alabama in Huntsville - Charger Motorsports]
* [http://www.ualberta.ca/~formula/ University of Alberta - Angry Beaver Racing]
* [http://www.joanneum-racing.at/ University of Applied Sciences Graz - joanneum racing graz]
* [http://www.fhm-racing.de/ University of Applied Sciences Munich - FHM Racing Team]
* [http://www.racing.tugraz.at/ Graz University of Technology - TUG Racing Team]
* [http://www.fsae.co.nz University of Auckland Formula SAE]
* [http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/Students/Organizations/sae/ University at Buffalo]
* [http://www.formulaubc.com/ University of British Columbia - Formula UBC]
* [http://www.enme.ucalgary.ca/fsae/ University of Calgary]
* [http://fsae.berkeley.edu University of California, Berkeley]
* [http://www.eng.uc.edu/studorg/sae/fsae/Site/Home%20Page.html University of Cincinnati - Bearcat Motorsports]
* [http://www.formulabuff.com/ University of Colorado]
* [http://www.dart-racing.de University of Darmstadt - DART Racing e.V.]
* [http://gatormotorsports.com/gms/index.html University of Florida - Gator Motorsports]
* [http://www.uhracing.co.uk/ University of Hertfordshire - UH Racing] Wikipedia Link
* [http://www.illinimotorsports.net/ University of Illinois - Illinimotorsports]
* [http://www.jayhawkmotorsports.com/portal University of Kansas - Jayhawk Motorsports]
* [http://www.terpsracing.umd.edu University of Maryland - Terps Racing]
* [http://www.murmotorsports.com University of Melbourne]
* [http://www.engin.umich.edu/soc/sae/Formula/home.htm University of Michigan Ann Arbor - MRacing]
* [http://students.missouri.edu/~sae/ University of Missouri]
* [http://www.unh.edu/fsae/ University of New Hampshire - UNH Precision Racing] Wikipedia Link
* [http://fsae.unm.edu University of New Mexico - Lobo Motorsports]
* [http://www.eng.newcastle.edu.au/~fsae/index.html University of Newcastle FSAE]
* [http://sae.ou.edu/ University of Oklahoma - Sooner Racing Team]
* [http://www.uoitmotorsports.com/ University of Ontario Institute of Technology - UOIT Motorsports]
* [http://www.engr.pitt.edu/fsae/ University of Pittsburgh - Panther Racing]
* [http://www.fssracing.com University of Sherbrooke]
* [http://www.s3racing.de University of Siegen - Speeding Scientists Siegen]
* [http://www.unisa.edu.au/sae University of South Australia]
* [http://maepro.uta.edu/fsae/ University of Texas Arlington]
* [http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/~sae/ University of Toledo - Rocket Motorsports]
* [http://www.fsae.utoronto.ca University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing]
* [http://www.uujracing.com/ University of Ulster - UUJ Racing]
* [http://students.washington.edu/auto University of Washington Formula Motorsport]
* [http://fsae.uwaterloo.ca University of Waterloo Formula Motorsports]
* [http://www.motorsport.uwa.edu.au/ University of Western Australia - UWA Motorsport]
* [http://www.eng.uwo.ca/sae/ University of Western Ontario]
* [http://www.fsae.uwindsor.ca University of Windsor - Lancer Motorsports]
* [http://www.uwracing.com University of Wisconsin - Madison Formula SAE]
* [http://www.vtmotorsports.com/ Virginia Tech - VT Motorsports]
* [http://sae.wsu.edu/ Washington State University - Washington State Formula SAE]
* [http://cec.wustl.edu/~fsae/ Washington University in St. Louis - WU Racing]
* [http://www.rso.wmich.edu/sae/ Western Michigan University - WMU Formula Racing]
* [http://www.wwufsae.com/ Western Washington University - WWU FSAE]
* [http://fsae.eng.wayne.edu/ Wayne State University - Warrior Racing]
* [http://www.formulasae.grupos.usb.ve/ Universidad Simón Bolívar]