TUSCALOOSA— What makes Billy White of Enterprise and other members of The University of Alabama’s Society of Automotive Engineers teams more skilled than NASCAR drivers?
UA’s SAE teams not only drive, but they also design, build, test and race their team’s vehicles. The Society of Automotive Engineers competitions challenge collegiate teams, including UA’s SAE formula team and Crimson GRITS (Girls Racing In The South), to assume that a manufacturing company has asked them to design, fabricate and demonstrate a prototype car for evaluation as a production item.
The premise behind the design competition is to tackle real world problems and to challenge students to reason and resolve issues just as project team members do in the automotive industry.
UA’s all-female team, the Crimson GRITS, will compete at Auburn’s National Center for Asphalt Technology in Opelika, April 16-19, and at the MGA Research Corp. Proving Grounds in Burlington, Wis., June 11-14.
Baja is an intercollegiate engineering design competition that offers students opportunity to tackle real-world engineering design projects though the design of an off-road vehicle that can survive the severe punishment of rough terrain and water. Competition judging will be based upon a technical inspection White, a junior mechanical engineering student from Enterprise and 20 other members of UA’s SAE formula team will compete in two events, one competition at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., April 22-25, and at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., May 13-16.
Since last summer, students have planned, designed and constructed an open-wheeled, formula- style racer. The vehicle will be judged, along with vehicles from 140 other colleges and universities, on the design, sales presentation, cost event, autocross, endurance and acceleration.
“I really enjoy seeing all of the members of this team learn and develop real, hands-on engineering skills,” said Kyle Aldridge, the SAE formula team captain and a junior in mechanical engineering.
“Many students go through engineering without seeing real-world applications, but we get to see a design on the computer come to life as we build many handmade parts for our race car.”
Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but they must also generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities.
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