The 2000 Formula SAE team raced to a second place finish at the Pontiac Silverdome May 17-21. The student engineers competed against 85 qualifying teams out of 110 entries from around the world. 2000 chassis team leader Tom Graham says the victory is particularly sweet as the team had come very close to winning in recent years.

"We really wanted to taste victory this year," Graham says. "We had the right team, we had the right ideas. We made the car right and tight and it paid off."

The student engineers brought home a $2,000 prize that will be put toward building next year's racer.

Over the course of the competition, the entry must pass tests of design, forward acceleration, lateral acceleration, endurance and a rigorous technical inspection. The team must also give a formal presentation discussing the design and manufacturing aspects of the car.

The Formula SAE competition is designed to challenge the knowledge, creativity, and skills of engineering students in a real world application. For purposes of the competition, students assume the rolls of engineers employed by a hypothetical automotive manufacturing firm. Student teams produce the prototype formula style racecar for the nonprofessional weekend autocross racer.

Before the car can go into production, it must meet a variety of specifications ranging from acceleration and handling to endurance and marketability. The hypothetical-manufacturing firm is charged with planning to produce 1,000 cars at a unit cost below $9,000. The challenge to the student team is to design and fabricate a prototype car that best meets those specifications.

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Copyright 2000 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Date last modified: Monday, 29-May-2000 00:00:00 CDT Date created: 29-May-2000 Content By: perspective@engr.wisc.edu Thank you for visiting!