At any Formula 1, IndyCar, IMSA, PWC, NHRA or NASCAR race, odds are likely pretty good that most engineers less than 40 years old started their motorsports engineering education on a Formula SAE or SAE Baja team. What began as a partnership between a lawnmower engine manufacturer and the organization most noted for three letters on every oilcan has evolved into the premier training ground for collegiate engineering students, especially those seeking a racing career. Justin Jang is an engineer with Bryan Herta Autosport on the factory Hyundai Pirelli World Challenge TCR team. He also spent time at Honda Performance Development. Jang was active in Formula SAE competitions from 2001-09 while a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “If it wasn’t for FSAE, I wouldn’t be involved in motorsports,” Jang says. “Heck, I would have never even dreamed that it was possible. As a student, Formula SAE motivated me to work harder in the classroom because I could directly relate the equations in the book into something tangible and competitive.

A good car weighs fewer than 400 pounds with about 100 hp. Most teams have rookie drivers. Kathy Plunkett

“It has given me the skills to be successful that a high GPA would never show; the championships that I’ve been a part of along with the fact that I now have over a decade of experience in the motorsports industry are largely due to some of the soft skills I learned while being involved with SAE. I remember interviewing for some (nonracing) engineering jobs, but they really didn’t recognize FSAE that much. Because of that, they never really considered offering me a position and probably overlooked a lot of other talented engineers. It’s funny how it worked out, though, because I love being involved in motorsports and I’m able to somewhat dictate where I want to live and the projects I take on.” In the early 1970s, the Society of Automotive Engineers (as in SAE 5W-30), now known as SAE International, developed a vehicle engineering competition with teams of college students building small off-road vehicles. A Briggs & Stratton 8-hp engine powered each car. Thus began SAE Mini-Baja, now known as SAE Baja. The off-road Baja competitions were an instant hit with the college kids. A few students thought racing on pavement would be fun; Formula SAE, or FSAE, was the result. FSAE can best be described as a mashup of a 250 shifter kart, a Formula Ford and an SCCA A-Mod solo car—real-life Mario karts. Maximum displacement is a restricted 600cc four-stroke. A good car weighs less than 400 pounds with about 100 hp. Speeds are restricted with these experimental prototypes, driven mostly by rookies. There are exceptions to the rookie drivers: students who happen to race—or, perhaps more accurately, racers who wanted to study engineering. IMSA racers Matt McMurry and Kenton Koch were both FSAE team members.

Cars at the Formula SAE event in Lincoln, Nebraska, are graded on more than just their good looks. Kathy Plunkett

Formula SAE grew slowly in the 1980s, bouncing between Texas and Michigan, organized by local SAE sections and typically held on a university campus parking lot. That all changed in the 1990s when the car companies discovered the competitions were a cost-effective way to find the best talent. Better to see the best students from 50-plus schools work on a team project at one event than visit a dozen campuses. During this period, the competitions went global with FSAE’s European counterpart: Formula Student. The most recent FSAE competitions, in Michigan and Nebraska, drew entries from Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and Venezuela. The Michigan event is capped at 120 entries, with dozens more wait-listed. It is estimated there are at least 400 colleges and universities globally building FSAE or Baja cars. Another key ’90s development was in the design judging. While the early competitions relied on local SAE members willing to volunteer, it was soon understood that an engineer who designs Class 8 trucks might not be the ideal person to critique a lightweight formula car suspension. The late great Carroll Smith, who wrote the Engineer/Build/Tune to Win books, stepped up to help recruit judges. Most of the students read Smith’s books, so having the professor himself there was a big plus. Smith was a great ambassador for the program and helped convince race teams that the FSAE/Baja grads had the right stuff.

Teams also create a business plan for their car. They must be delivered to an event on time and on budget. Kathy Plunkett

Today, OEMs, suppliers, race teams and leading aerospace companies actively recruit at the events. The two organizations most actively recruiting last year were Honda and SpaceX. The Formula SAE and SAE Baja magic is not in the racing but in the overall nature of the competition. Students not only build a race car, they must also construct a business case and meet conflicting objectives of lower cost and higher performance. The completed race car is often referred to as a “rolling résumé.” Teams strive to deliver a car on time, on budget and as a multidisciplinary unit (three basics of both the industry and the sport). The cars are evaluated for engineering design, safety, cost, rules compliance and business case before they are allowed on a track. On the track, cars are tested for acceleration, handling, endurance and fuel economy—and scored in each category. The winning team is the one typically striking the best balance across all categories. Students learn the word “optimize” is a much better term than “compromise.” As in professional motorsports, costs have escalated, especially with overseas teams. Many are funded in the six-figure range per year for a project where all the student labor is free. Many schools opt for the more affordable SAE Baja, where costs are kept in check thanks to the ongoing support of Briggs & Stratton for spec engines. For more information on schools with FSAE or SAE Baja teams, as well as the 2019 competition schedules, go to sae.org.

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