UA Mechanical Engineering Students Prepare Vehicles for SAE Competitions

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – What makes 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 university teams, including UA’s Formula SAE 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.

UA’s Formula SAE team will compete in two events, including the Formula SAE-Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., April 23-26, and the Formula SAE-West competition in Fontana, Calif., at the Auto Club Speedway June 25-28.

Since August, the team has built a small, formula-style racing car. The vehicle must have high performance in terms of its acceleration, braking and handling qualities, and must also be low in cost, easy to maintain and reliable. Its marketability is enhanced by factors such as aesthetics, comfort and use of common parts.

“Participating in this competition allows our members to experience obstacles that professional engineers in the automotive industry constantly struggle with,” explained Kenneth Collins, Formula SAE team captain and a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. “We are fortunate to have the opportunity to test our mechanical abilities against those of students from the world’s most prominent educational institutions.”

The cars are judged among 120 other vehicles from colleges around the world in a series of static and dynamic events, including technical inspection, cost, presentation, engineering design, solo performance trials and high performance track endurance.

UA’s all women team, the Crimson GRITS, will be competing at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn., on May 1-3 at the Baja SAE – Tennessee Competition.

Baja SAE is an intercollegiate engineering design competition that offers students an opportunity to tackle real-world engineering design projects through the design of an off-road vehicle that can survive rough terrain and a challenging water course.

Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote, and race the rugged, single seat, off-road recreational vehicle, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities.

“Thanks to the dedication of each of our members, we were able to capitalize on our engineering abilities by designing a vehicle that can handle several different types of terrain,” explained Sarah Grano, a senior from Guntersville and Crimson GRITS team captain.

All baja vehicles are powered by a 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engine donated by Briggs & Stratton Corp. Use of the same engine by all the teams creates a more challenging engineering design test.

UA mechanical engineering students preparing for the SAE competitions are:

• Kyle Aldridge, a sophomore from Fairhope
• Paul Bennett, a junior from Mobile
• Laura Blevins, a senior from Huntsville
• Kenneth Collins, a senior from Decatur and the Formula SAE team captain
• Bianca Covington, a junior from Houston, Texas
• Andrew Gilbert, a sophomore from Decatur
• Sarah Grano, a senior from Guntersville and the Crimson GRITS team captain
• James M. Hansen, a sophomore from Hoover
• Sam Hathcock, a freshman from Weaver
• Kris Hester, a junior from Hoover
• Jill Hoover, a freshman from Dallas, Texas
• Lyndsey Horton, a sophomore from Vestavia Hills
• Christina Ibrahim, a senior from Baileyton
• Ryan Nelms, a senior from Nashville, Tenn., and the Formula SAE lead engineer
• Laura Parrish, a freshman from Montgomery
• Alston Pike, a junior from Roanoke, Va.
• Madison Robidart, a junior from Coosa
• Tim Rose, a junior from Rochester Hills, Mich.
• Jeff Scheurer, a junior from Dothan
• Michael Smothers, a senior from Northport
• David Trawick, a sophomore from Spanish Fort
• Matthew Westbury, a sophomore from Dothan
• Billy White, a sophomore from Enterprise

The Society of Automotive Engineers is a non-profit engineering and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of mobility technology to better serve humanity. The organization focuses on standards development and promotes the testing, measurement, and design of automobiles and their components.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,300 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last seven years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.

Note: An SAE Formula team demonstration will be Monday, April 21, at 2 p.m. at the Coleman Coliseum parking lot.