The Michigan State University (MSU) Formula Racing Team
showed off its $200,000, award-winning Formula SAE car at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, and is getting the car primed for the
spring 2008 racing season.
Through this program, students from around the world
develop small, open-wheel race cars for a specific target market. They have a
chance to compete in nine worldwide competitions against more than 300 teams
annually.
“The whole concept is that the students learn how to
design, manufacture and market a product,” says Adam Zemke with the MSU Formula
Racing Team.
It’s taken Zemke’s team 14 months to develop Car 51, which was on display at the NAIAS. The students
design the car, produce a 3-D model of the car, and analyze the design to determine
stress and stimulate how the parts of the car will react before they build the
car.
MSU has one of the most well-funded Formula Racing Teams
in the country.
“You can have a great learning experience from this
project, even if it’s not well funded,” Zemke says.
Source: Laura Seeley, Michigan State University College of Engineering
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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