Academics

Joining the Team

So how does one get involved with Formula SAE? Well, first of all, FSAE is not for everyone. It involves long hours of research, design, manufacturing, testing, and administration. The scholastic credit given for the class is considerably less than the time and energy commitment would warrant. The class offers the closest experience to realistic private sector employment. The challenge provided by the class is balanced by the outstanding opportunity and reward of building and racing a formula style race car, working on a team, and utilizing cutting edge technology. The skills and experience attained by FSAE participants is mirrored by the success rate of industry placement. The team consistently places all members in automotive and other engineering industry with many members receiving multiple employment offers early in their senior year. Formula SAE competition requires that individual members must be an undergraduate or graduate student in a college or university. Individuals must also be members with the SAE. For membership information, go to www.sae.org. And finally, participants must sign a liability waiver at the competition. As for joining the University of Washington Formula SAE program, the following requirements apply:

  • You must be an enrolled student at the University of Washington.
  • You must take the class for credit ranging from 1 to 5 credits.
  • Students must assume all financial responsibilities both during the school year and at competition.
  • You must fill out the team application and submit a resume and cover letter.

Summer Quarter

The official beginning of the UW FSAE year starts in the summer quarter with a small group of students. The main objective of the quarter is to conduct durability and other tests on the previous year's car. Often times, the previous year's car is barely broken in after competition and problem areas do not show up until later. It is the team's goal to isolate these problem areas and provide useful information during the autumn quarter design phase. Other tests such as cooling system and dynamic tests are conducted to quantify the performance of the formula car. By the end of the quarter, thorough reports are prepared for the rest of the team.

Autumn Quarter

The autumn quarter begins with design goals and objectives. Each of the technical groups researches their components and systems and provides various solutions to the problems of the previous year's car. A final concept is selected and the design work begins. Heated discussions, sleepless nights, and endless weekends at school result in a completed design down to the thousandth of an inch. Material and component procurement is done as soon as possible with the intent to begin production during the winter break. Previous year's sponsors are contacted and the team goes to the Seattle International Auto Show. Alumni are brought up to speed at the annual alumni dinner at a Traxx karting center.

Winter Quarter

The winter quarter actually begins after finals week for most of the members. That means the manufacturing phase of the program has begun. Material for the frame arrives by the truckload ready for fabrication. 16 to 24 hour days are spent in the Mechanical Engineering machine shop. Most students don't see the light of day for the entire break. The frame is completed in the winter break along with some other components on the car. Strict deadlines are imposed by the team captains on the rest of the team with the hope that everything will go as planned. 95% of the work is conducted by the students in the department machine shop. Heat treatment, gear splining, and header fabrication is taken cared of by generous sponsors. So by the end of the winter quarter, the design has become reality with a running prototype.

Spring Quarter

With many people taking advantage of spring break, the UW FSAE team takes advantage of it too. They begin testing the formula car at the track and on the dyno. Parts that break or are not finished are quickly redesigned and remanufactured. The competition is less than two months away at this point. When the spring quarter officially begins, the UW FSAE team continues to test the prototype car. They try to conduct dynamic and durability tests in order to obtain the best car for the competition. At the same time, the rest of the team is preparing for their design presentations. Mock presentations with alumni and faculty members are done to prepare for the big event. Fundraising also continues with food sales at Safeco Field.  The days before the big event are filled with last minute practice presentations and car preparation. A team of individuals drive the car to the competition in a covered trailer while the rest of the team flies to the competition. Over 9 months have led to the big event. The next 5 days will be ones that the students will never forget.