2017 Baja California

FAMU-FSU SAE Team
FAMU-FSU SAE Baja Car
FAMU-FSU SAE Team

“FAMU-FSU SAE TEAM COMPETES IN 2016 RIT AND 2017 BAJA CA COMPETITION”

Highlights

  • President in 2017 and 2018
  • Placed 46th out of over 200 in international competition

Summary

“Baja SAE challenges engineering students to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain and in some competitions, water. As in real work situations, these future engineers work together as a team to discover and resolve technical challenges in design, test, and manufacturing, as well as business issues. The most rugged of all the competitions, Baja SAE also gives students the first-hand challenge of pursuing their passion while managing real-life demands and priorities. Each team’s goal is to design and build a prototype of an all-weather, rugged, single-seat, off-road recreational vehicle intended for sale to the nonprofessional weekend off-road enthusiast.

SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting more than 145,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries.” [1]

My focus as FAMU-FSU SAE President was to ensure the team had everything they needed to succeed both in and out of our workspace. I was responsible for finances, sponsorships, general body meetings, alumni outreach, community outreach, competition scheduling, and was an advocate for getting more machine shop access for us to work on the car. During my time as president, I worked side-by-side with faculty and our students to ensure a successful trip to competition and representation of our College of Engineering. 

[1] Baja SAE, https://www.bajasae.net/

FAMU-FSU SAE Website

2018 Formula Nebraska

2018 FAMU-FSU SAE Formula Team
FAMU-FSU SAE Formula Car design

“FAMU-FSU SAE PAVES THE WAY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS BY COMPETING IN SAE FORMULA COMPETITION FOR THE FIRST TIME”

Highlights

  • FAMU-FSU SAE competed for the first time in decades in the Formula SAE Nebraska competition in 2018
    • The car passed inspection
  • Focus placed on sustainability of the student organization

Summary

“Formula SAE challenges students to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing cars. Teams spend 8-12 months designing, building, and preparing their vehicles for a competition. These cars are judged in a series of static and dynamic events, including technical inspection, cost, presentation, engineering design, solo performance trials and high performance endurance.

SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting more than 145,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries.” [1]

My focus as FAMU-FSU SAE President was to ensure the team had everything they needed to succeed both in and out of our workspace. I was responsible for finances, sponsorships, general body meetings, alumni outreach, community outreach, competition scheduling, and was an advocate for getting more machine shop access for us to work on the car. During my time as president, I worked side-by-side with faculty and our students to ensure a successful trip to competition and representation of our College of Engineering. 

[1] Formula SAE, https://www.fsaeonline.com/

SAE International A World In Motion Gravity Cruiser

FAMU-FSUS SAE team member teaching middle school students
All girls after-school science club members

“FAMU-FSU SAE REACHES OUT TO LOCAL GIRLS MIDDLE SCHOOL TO INSPIRE CAREERS IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY”

Highlights

  • FAMU-FSU SAE participates in girls middle school outreach to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM
  • “Students design and build vehicles powered by gravity.” [1]
  • “Core concepts include forces, Newton’s laws of motion, gravity, and engineering design.” [1]

Summary

The FAMU-FSU SAE team worked with an after school girls club in  Tallahassee, FL, to teach the concepts of weight transfer and momentum. The girls designed cars out of materials such as cardboard and skewers supplied by SAE International. The goal of the mini car competition was to see whose car could go the furthest using weights and Newtons laws of motion to propel the cars forward. The initiative was a sponsorship opportunity to waive admissions fees for competition on behalf of SAE International, which led to a win-win for both the middle school and the university students. 

For the first lesson, “students receive a letter from a fictitious toy company, EarthToy Designs, inviting them to create their own gravity cruiser toy design based on specifications provided by the company. Students discuss the requirements described in the letter. They are introduced to the engineering design process and the scope of this design challenge: to build a gravity cruiser, figure out how it works in order to predict its behavior, and use this knowledge to design their own customized gravity cruisers that meet specific performance goals.” [1] 

The results were fantastic, and all of the girls stayed engaged and took interest during the learning process. There was a lot of creativity out of the group that really surprised and encouraged our team.

[1] Gravity Cruiser, SAE International, https://www.sae.org/learn/education/curriculum/gravity-cruiser-middle

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