FSAE 2010

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Wayne State University’s Formula SAE team is revving up for what it hopes is another round of success in its new team offices and lab inside the Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center. Part of a student design competition organized by SAE International, the Formula SAE West event will be held at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., June 16 through 19.

Teams come from schools all over the world to enter their small, formula-style racing cars into competition. Last year’s WSU FSAE car scored a personal best, ranked 67 out of 119 teams overall, at the Michigan International Speedway. “I’m very proud of how the team performed last year,” says Andrew Vaitkevicius, assistant captain. “It was a good starting point for this year.”

Vaitkevicius is in charge of overseeing projects, coordinating events and keeping an “eye on the books,” he says. He is a sophomore in more ways than one. As a former business major last year, his rookie experience working with FSAE partially motivated him to change his major to engineering. And like the majority of last year’s dozen or so members, Vaitkevicius returned this year hopeful about their chances.

“We’re feeling optimistic,” he says. “It’s January, and we’re at where we were in April 2009. Testing is the key. It’s all about failures and how we adapt to them.”

Moving to the their new space last spring in the Engineering Development Center has made a big difference in getting organized and working on the car at a faster pace.

Vaitkevicius hopes the head start will go a long way. The team plans to thoroughly test their vehicle for at least two months before competition, unlike previous years when the finished product was turned out just weeks (or sometimes days) before a major event.

This year’s car is about 70 percent done. Fabrication is complete, along with the electrical system, powertrain and frame. The suspension, among other components, still needs to be put together, but Vaitkevicius says the car should be finished by the end of February.

The team hopes to place in the top 25 at the California speedway in June. To achieve this goal, they plan to reduce the car’s weight and increase power by simplifying various functions — steering, braking, the powertrain and the electrical system — down to fewer parts. The wheelbase was shortened by two inches. Vaitkevicius says they need to be “aggressive” by trying new things like a carbon fiber muffler in order to have a more competitive power-weight ratio.

Vaitkevicius says he switched his major to engineering because it was “more exciting” than studying business. “That was one of biggest factors,” he says. “The ability to work with your hands and actually gain experience that you use in a classroom is a lot more fun.”

This time around, money was an issue early on. Finding sponsors was “stagnant at the beginning,” Vaitkevicius says, but big names like Ford and General Motors came through along the way.

Michele Grimm, associate dean for academic affairs, has reprised her role as advisor to the team. “We have to answer to her if anything goes wrong, but she gives us a lot of freedom as far as design aspects,” Vaitkevicius says.

Grimm has advised different WSU FSAE teams since 2003. “All of the teams have put their hearts and souls into the cars,” she says of past teams. “This year we have a dedicated group of veterans accompanied by a good group of rookies. Building on a strong finish in 2009 and a good amount of testing this fall, I think that the team is in a good position to perform well in 2010 as long as they continue this level of effort.”

Grimm says increasing team membership is important for keeping a strong team each year. Vaitkevicius says some freshman students were scared away once they realized the long hours that members put in. At least three full-time freshman members have stayed the course, though.

Vaitkevicius says there haven’t been too many roadblocks. Class schedules are the biggest challenge to getting everyone together. Also, moving equipment to the new space and getting situated last summer was difficult with the few people that were around at the time.

In previous years, the team had a small lab in the Manufacturing Engineering Building and an office in the college. “We had no machines and the separation from our office and our lab presented problems with giving tours to our sponsors, confusion among new members and a long walk for anyone who forgot a print in the office,” says Vaitkevicius.

Team members had to fit in time at the university machine shops during normal business hours in between their own classes and the other projects being worked on in the shops.

“The ability to machine our own parts has lead to faster turnaround times on designs, which helps us keep our deadlines,” says Vaitkevicius.

Grimm says the new lab and the machine donations have gone a long way. “This has been a key aspect of the team’s ability to progress this year,” she says. “The 24/7 access to a design and manufacturing space, equipped with machine tools donated by Ford and GM, has made a tremendous difference in moving forward this year.”

The team held a booth with last year’s car at the North American International Auto Show Jan. 17 through 24 at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit. The team rotated two students at the booth throughout the show, talking to passersby about the car and the team. “We’re making a presence,” Vaitkevicius says. “We’re representing our SAE chapter and Wayne State, and trying to get some exposure. And it’s cool to see the cars too.”