Formula SAE team lead Nathan Lentz takes a seat in the UAlberta Formula SAE race car. Lentz says the team is hoping to finish in the top 15 or 20 spots in a competition against students from 80 international universities.
(Edmonton) It can go from zero to 100 km/h in four seconds flat and has a top speed of more than 100 km/h.
And now, engineering students from the University of Alberta are taking the Formula-style race car they designed and built to an international competition in the U.S.
The U of A Formula SAE Race Team is competing against student teams from 80 universities around the world from June 21 to 24 at the Formula SAE Lincoln competition. In all, 16 U of A team members will make the trip to Lincoln, Nebraska.
"We're hoping to make it to the top 15 this year," says team leader Nathan Lentz, an industrial design student.
Teams at the competition will square off against one another in competitions on and off the racetrack. And speed isn't the only goal.
In the design category, for example, the engineering students make presentations to a panel of automotive engineers from companies such as Ford, Honda and Tesla, who question every detail of design decisions.
For power train design team lead Robyn Murray, who's now in her fourth year of the mechanical engineering co-op program, being "grilled by industry professionals" can be daunting.
But she's confident in the team, which has grown this year.
"I had about six people working with me this year on the power train, so we were able to focus on each component-and you can bring younger people into the team and pass knowledge on to them, so there's some mentoring going on," she said.
Seventeen students will make the trip to Nebraska, and when it comes time to hit the track for an endurance race, two experienced drivers will take the lead.
Former Team Canada World Formula race driver Skylar Dunning, a third-year mechanical engineering co-op student, raced at the world championships in 2013. He's joined by industrial design student Christophe Duchesne, a veteran, high-level kart racer.
As an industrial design student, Duchesne said working with the engineering students brings a new dimension to his education.
"We don't get a lot of opportunities to work with engineers," he said. Duchesne and a fellow design student, working with Dunning as design team lead, made important adjustments to the driver's seat position.
"Last year the car was bigger but it had less room for the driver," said Duchesne. "As design students we see things a little differently."
Dunning describes the design as "tight" meaning every aspect has been carefully thought through.
"We wanted to keep it simple but we also realized that ergonomics is a significant part of the design journey," he said.
The team is entering the competition for its 19th consecutive year.
Some statistics about the UAlberta car:
- Design: Open-wheel, single seat, Formula-style
- Top speed: 115 km/h
- Horsepower: Approximately 48
- Acceleration: From zero to 100 km/h in four seconds
- Engine: 450 CC single cylinder, customized