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Team vice-president Mitchel Knaus said people are starting to take notice of what the U of S engineers are accomplishing.

“People would stop and watch our car,” Knaus said. “When you have an aero car, and it’s put together (well), and you’re doing well in events, teams start noticing.”

The international competition is not limited to only a race. Judges from the automotive industry also analyze the car’s design and cost-effectiveness, as well as its performance in speed and endurance events.

Photo by Kayle Neis / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

The team changes the car every year to try to make it better. This year, the team used simulation programs to validate their new designs and optimize the car’s performance as they made their tweaks.

“You can adjust one thing in the suspension, or in the aero package, and see that it was faster… or made it it slower,” team member Chad Lucyshyn said. “So you can actually do testing and have numerical results.”

It’s not a class, but thousands of after-school hours go in to making the car as good as they can. There are some items the team can’t build themselves, and they rely on sponsors and investors for both funding and access to certain materials or manufacturing equipment. Other items, such as their custom-built steering system, are put together in-house.

The custom work is what helped the team’s car earn 18th spot in the design portion of the international competition in Michigan.

“It’s just… ‘wow, we’re actually competing with these teams we’ve looked up to for years,’ ” Weir said.

First-year engineering student Matthew Bergquist said he plans on sticking with the team throughout university because it’s fun being a part of putting the team’s car together. He also said he’s learning things ahead of some of his classmates.

“There’s some teamwork skills you get from being on a team… engineering tips you pick up working in the shop from people, that they haven’t really taught yet,” Bergquist said.