A group of Grand Valley State University students will compete at one of the world’s largest collegiate autocross car competitions May 13-16 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) is an educational competition that challenges students to design, build and test formula-style race cars. The competition started in 1979 and has grown to include events around the world, with Michigan’s being the longest running and largest. About 120 teams will participate this year.
This is the first time Grand Valley is participating in the competition. A team of 25 students began the project in August 2014 and met weekly throughout the academic year to build the car in the Keller Engineering Labs. The car has a Honda 600 CBR RR engine — a motorcycle engine — that can hit speeds as high as 80 miles per hour.
The team will race several times throughout the day, May 14-16. The competition will conclude with an awards ceremony the night of May 16. The winner is determined by the highest cumulative score of inspections and testing, which include brake and acceleration tests, design judging and a business plan presentation.
The team has raised $38,000 from sponsors in West Michigan, including the West Michigan SAE chapter and organizations throughout West Michigan.
For more information, contact Greg Quante, a junior who is operations manager for the team, at [email protected]. For more information about Formula SAE Michigan, visit http://students.sae.org/cds/formulaseries/fsae/.
