Collegiate Times

Michael Bromley, a senior in mechanical engineering and leader of VT Motorsports works on the 2010 version of the racecar.

“What really interested me was the competitive side,” Burke said. “Not many students have projects that are competitive at an international level.”

The Tech Formula SAE team participates in the international competition in Detroit each year. Beyond the students who are designing and building, the team also has a marketing group that works to find sponsors for the project, as well as a sales group that performs a cost analysis for all of the funding.

However, the most important part is the car’s actual performance.

“At the competition there are static events and dynamic events,” Burke said. “The dynamic events are when you drive the car on short track while being timed, and then the static events include presenting the design to judges, and defending the decisions you made.”

This year, the team anticipates an exciting competition after making an unprecedented change to the car’s engine.

“The car has always had a 4-cylinder engine, but this year we made it a single cylinder,” Johnson said, noting that the change will reduce the weight of the vehicle by as much as 90 pounds. “Basically it will enable us to enter and exit corners faster and have more low-end torque, being on the gas constantly instead of having to slow down on the turns.”

Johnson, who went to the competition last year, was amazed at the diverse range of teams competing from all over the world.

“We were competing against teams sponsored by Red Bull with a half a million dollar budget, as well as some start up teams of only six or seven guys,” Johnson said, placing Tech’s team around the middle of the two extremes. “We’re pretty well respected every year, which is impressive. Competing against so many different teams is definitely an eye-opening experience.”

After attending multiple competitions, Burke feels that these experiences, along with all of the time that goes into building the car, has been the most valuable experience he has had as an engineer.

“As far as my progress as an engineer,” Burke said, “I wouldn’t be even close to where I am today if I didn’t have the practical experience of working with Formula SAE.”

Continue Reading:  « Previous12

A version of this article appeared in the Mar 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.