The Society of Automotive Engineers’ LSU chapter is taking theirorganization to the next gear by adding a new subdivision to theirranks.
Formula SAE was reintroduced to campus this summer after a groupof engineers with a passion for automobiles decided to bring backthe collaboration of engineering and business to students.
“Formula SAE was originally set up on campus in 2000, but therewasn’t much organization; it was more like a senior project,” saidBlake Andermann, a pre-engineering sophomore and communicationdirector for the LSU chapter of SAE.
Formula SAE is the division of the organization that buildshigh-performance race cars and submits them to a nationalcompetition at the University of Michigan.
The competition includes an array of tests, presentations andraces in which the automobile submitted must pass in order to placein the top 20 percent. Andermann said LSU normally has been on thebottom of this list.
“We have set up the organization by breaking it down to the sixdifferent categories of the car,” Andermann said. “Our goal is tobreak into the top 20 percent at the competition and we know we cando it.”
However, the construction of the car does not begin with awrench and some radiator fluid, but with fund raising and sponsorscouting. Andermann said approximately 98 percent of theirmaterials are attained through sponsors and funding.
After sponsors are in line, the members begin to sketch andbrainstorm for unique ideas and designs for the car. Each teamconsisting of the engine, suspension, chassy, brake, transmission,and cockpit works under a team leader and reaches a certainobjective until all the parts are placed together to complete thecar.
“The judges base their scores on more than just the engine andtransmission,” Andermann said. “A lot of the score is based on theoriginality of the design and how it looks and appears.”
Andermann said the organization will not be participating in theupcoming competition in May because the members want to take timeto work on their model. Andermann said the chapter will participatein the May 2006 competition and are looking for students to jointheir team.
While the Formula SAE team is recruiting sponsors and teammembers, the SAE chapter will continue to promote thetransportation industry on campus. The organization hosts an arrayof guest speakers and videos on transportation for theUniversity.
“Our number one goal at SAE is to keep the chapter going,” saidDavid Freeman, a mechanical engineering senior and president ofSAE. “We are trying our best to recruit younger members to theorganization to keep the chapter going.”
Freeman said the SAE chapter helps create awareness of theirorganization through the competitions such as the one Formula SAEwill participate in.
“We want to stress that this organization is not just forengineer majors,” Andermann said. “We are in dire need of businessmajors, marketing majors and basically anyone that is interested incars.”