Tucked away in the Engineering Annex Building sits a purple and gold race car named “Chelsea” — a vehicle responsible for bringing the little known LSU TigerRacing Team out of the workshop and into the limelight.
The team recently performed its best time at the Formula SAE Collegiate Design Competition in Michigan. At the Formula SAE competition in Lincoln, Nebraska, the team placed 9th out of 65 teams competing, a feat that cut its global ranking in half, giving them an estimated rank of 56th in the world, said computer science freshman Leslie Morgan, the team’s public relations and marketing executive.
“Chelsea” is a 461-pound formula-style vehicle containing a Honda CBR F4i engine with 67 wheel horsepower, 31 pound-foot torque and max speed of a little over 100 miles per hour — all held within a carbon fiber body with steel framing, according to the team’s website. The electric shifting and resonated exhaust are a couple of the things that make this vehicle unique compared to its predecessing models.
What does it take to build a race car capable of reaching top ranks in a competitive environment? Time, money and a whole lot of teamwork.
The race car is designed and manufactured, then taken to competitions by a team of roughly 20 students. This endeavour is an annual cycle that takes a year to complete. A timeline is established before going into the process of building, said mechanical engineering freshman Van Le, the team’s engine design lead. The designing phase begins after competitions are completed, and by August, the car is ready to be manufactured with a goal of completion by Christmas.
“That way we have the whole second semester to have the car ready and rolling for testing,” Le said.
The team is in contact with the Parking and Transportation Services, which allows members to practice on the smooth commuter lots around Patrick F. Taylor Hall and Tiger Stadium, Morgan said. By this time, some team members will have had put days upon days of work inside and outside of the shop.
“You’re working pretty much full-time job hours,” said finance sophomore Emily Latham, the team’s financial and marketing executive. “So about 30 to 40 hours a week.”
Of course, time isn’t the only large investment required. The amount of money it took to fund this year’s car added up to a little more than $43,000, including everything from manufacturing and purchase of raw materials to travel and transportation, said mechanical engineering junior Eric Rohli, the team’s incoming president.
The team attains its funding from sponsors, alumni and the University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. While local sponsors contribute a majority of the money used, the department provides gifts as well as an equipped place to work.
“One of the big contributions they’ve given us is the shop itself,” Le said. “We cherish that.”
In addition to the workshop, the machinists in the department, as well as assistant professor of mechanical engineering Ingmar Schoegl, the team’s faculty adviser, assist when they are needed. Despite the availability of help, the team as a whole does the most amount of work.
“It’s really the club’s responsibility to do everything,” Schoegl said. “I guess if I see anything that is blatantly obvious, I will say something, but beyond that, it’s their effort, and I keep it at that.”
The team is able to maintain this effort through a tightly organized system of work distribution. Designing the car, handling sponsorship, contacting companies, manufacturing the parts, assembling the car and testing it are all tasks that are split between team members within administrative and technical departments.
“It’s pretty much just a little business that’s getting run here,” Morgan said. “Like a machine with a bunch of different components running together.”
And the engine that keeps this metaphorical machine going is the knowledge-transfer mentality the team boasts. Before LSU TigerRacing became a University recognized student organization with an extracurricular volunteer-based format open to all students, it was a senior capstone project that dated back to the ’90s, Schoegl said.
When the department decided to no longer accept it as a capstone due to years of poor performance, the students enthusiastically took over, according to a news release. Unlike with a capstone, experience and knowledge is passed on to younger members through documented notes and mentorships with returning members.
“Each year is just an improvement from the last because past team captains and team leaders have established a good base that we’re working off of,” Le said.
Since making this switch in 2013, TigerRacing has shown a trend of steady improvement in its ranks — going from 73rd to 40th to 22nd in Michigan and 42nd to 9th in Nebraska.
“Our knowledge transfer is so organized that it’s at a point where we’re not set up to fail, we’re set up to succeed,” Morgan said.
The students involved with the organization are not paid for their efforts but said they hope to gain an advantageous step forward. By competing, team members have a chance to be recognized by companies like SpaceX, who are typically present at competitions like Michigan, Schoegl said.
“This is something that future employers are actually looking at,” Schoegl said. “It’s really a huge plus on the résumés of students who are involved.”
The team plans to bring “Chelsea” to Arlington, Texas, within the coming weeks for an SAE meet, Le said.
Clarification: The attribution in the third paragraph of this story was changed from “Morgan said” to “according to the team’s website.” 

Gallery • 6 Photos

Zoe Geauthreaux

The rear of LSU TigerRacing team's formula-style racecar displays its name, "Chelsea", on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 in the Engineering Annex Building. Part of the car's frame is painted red to represent the "red stick" state.