SAE Collegiate Design Series: Formula SAE®
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Finishes in 1st Place at Formula SAE California!
WARRENDALE, Pa. Photo credit to James Waltman, June 24, 2009
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Car #66 finally clinched a 1st Place finish after having finished in second place five times since 1994; including their most recent 2nd place finish at the 2009 Formula SAE Michigan event in May.
With a very tight lead of 8.9 points, Car #66 RIT was honored the title of 1st Place Champions over 2nd Place finishers Oregon State University, Car #14. RIT dominated the competition finishing 1st in three events: Cost, Design and Autocross, 2nd in two events: Acceleration and Skid Pad and 3rd in Presentation.
The competition returned to the Auto Club Speedway and welcomed 48 teams from around the world; competing teams represented Brazil, Canada, China, India, Mexico, South Korea and United States. This years’ higher than usual dropout rate was a reflection of the impact that the world economic situation is having on team funding. Still those teams onsite had the luxury of paddocking on asphalt with water and electric hookups available in their paddocks. All static judging took place in the NASCAR garages and suites. Dynamic events were staged and run on the infield road course areas.
The event kicked off on Wednesday, June 17th with Team Registration and early Technical Inspection. On Thursday all the static events were completed; Cost, Design and Presentation. Taking 1st in Cost was Rochester Institute of Technology, Car #66.
Announced for Design Semi-Finals were seven universities:
Car #2, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Car #6, Western Washington University
Car #14, Oregon State University
Car #66, Rochester Institute of Technology
Car #67, University of Washington
Car #69, University of Kansas - Lawrence
Car #70, Auburn University
Design Finals took place on Saturday, June 20th following the Endurance event. Out of the seven semi-finalists, only two were invited to the Design Finals and a Public Review; Car #66 Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Car #14 Oregon State University. After a full review of the cars and a lengthy discussion by the judges Design Event Captain, Mike O’Neil announced RIT as the winner.
Finishing on top in Presentation was local team California Polytechnic State – San Luis Obispo, Car #23.
The real test of the cars abilities and students engineering skills began Friday for those teams who passed Technical Inspection. In the morning, Acceleration and Skid Pad were run followed by Autocross in the afternoon. Running in unusually cool weather for Southern California in June, teams managed to keep the track heated with the fastest time in Acceleration being 4.013 seconds by Car #9 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Heating up the skid pad with a time of 5.023 seconds was the winged car from Missouri University Science and Technology, Car #2.
Staging for the Autocross event were 35 cars. Though all teams crossed the starting line, some teams struggled with completing both drivers’ runs. Finishing in first place with the fastest lap was Car # 66 Rochester Institute of Technology with the time of 62.538 seconds. Hoosier Tires sponsored the Autocross Awards; a set amount of tires were provided to the top three finishers. In second place with a time of 62.779 seconds was Car #69 University of Kansas – Lawrence. Rounding out third place was Car #2 Missouri University of Science and Technology with a time of 63.029 seconds. All three finishers had clean runs as no one received any cone penalties on their fastest laps.
The competition concluded on Saturday, June 20th with the Endurance/Fuel Economy event and award ceremony. Unlike previous years where Endurance Day was so hot the tires could melt on the asphalt, the weather was overcast and windy. Temperatures were in the high 70s.
Thirty-five cars were given the green flag and 21 teams finished giving the event a finishing percentage of 60% a new record for the FSAE Series. Nineteen teams received points for staying under the maximum run time of 1810 seconds. Finishing 1st was Car #14 Oregon State University with the fourth fastest time of 1375.348 seconds. Oregon State finished the Endurance/Fuel Economy event using the least amount of fuel which helped clinch their victory over 2nd place finisher Car #69 University of Kansas –Lawrence with the time of 1366.854 seconds and 3rd place finisher Car #3 University of Oklahoma with the time of 1392.549 seconds. First place award sponsored by Goodyear Tires went to Oregon State. The team won a one day pass for testing at the Goodyear’s SPMM location in Akron, Ohio.
Not completing the event, several cars were not able to restart after the driver change. Several cars broke or stalled on track ending their efforts to finish. However the most painful defeat was for the Brazilian team Car #11 Faculdade de Engenharia de Sorocaba whose engine just stopped within feet of the finish line. Driver, Luis Fernando Baccarin was in tears while trying to push his wheels across the finish line unfortunately with an unsuccessful attempt before being ruled “dead on course” by event officials.
The award ceremony took place following the finish of Endurance and Design Finals. Taking home 1st Place Overall Car #66 Rochester Institute of Technology with a total of 885.6 points; in 2nd Place Car# 14 Oregon State University with a total of 876.7 points and in 3rd Place Overall Car #69 University of Kansas-Lawrence with a total of 815.3 points.
The SAE Collegiate Design Series Staff would like to thank everyone who helped make this event a great success. To all the volunteers and sponsors, thank you for all your contributions and support! To all the students, thank you for your interest in the Formula SAE Series and your education! For more information on this article or Event results please contact SAE International at collegiatecompetitions@sae.org.
To view all final score results from Formula SAE California, please visit http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/results/. The results can also be found at the end of this article with the “Download Additional Information” link below the Award Winners List.
2009 Formula SAE California Award Winners
SAE Presentation Award
The team that receives the best score in Presentation
1st Place California Polytechnic State University - SLO
SAE Cost Award
The team that receives the best score in Cost
1st Place Rochester Institute of Technology
Honda R&D Americas Engineering Design Award
Top 3 Finishers in the Design Event - $1000, $725, $525
1st Place Rochester Institute of Technology
2nd Place Oregon State University
3rd Place University of Kansas - Lawrence
CD-adapco's Most Innovative Use of CAE Award
The best application of STAR-CCM+ for aerodynamics or thermal analysis and design of Formula SAE car - $1000
Winner University of Texas Arlington
SAE Acceleration Award
The team who recieves the best score in Acceleration
1st Place Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst
SAE Skid Pad Award
The team who recieves the best score in Skid Pad
Winner Missouri University of Science and Technology
Hoosier Tire Autocross Award
First three finishers in the Autocross event - 8 free tires, 6 free tires, 4 free tires
1st Place Rochester Institute of Technology
2nd Place University of Kansas - Lawrence
3rd Place Missouri University of Science and Technology
Goodyear Best Performance Award
First team in Endurance event - 1 Day K&C Testing on Goodyear's SPMM located at the Akron Engineering Test Labatory
1st Place Oregon State University
SAE Fuel Economy Award
The team who receives the best score in Fuel Economy
1st Place Oregon State University
Honda Dynamic Event Award
Best Combined Scores in Dynamic Events - $1000, $725, $525
1st Place Oregon State University
2nd Place Rochester Institute of Technology
3rd Place University of Kansas - Lawrence
William C. Mitchell Rookie Award
Best Finish for a First Year Team - Racing by the Numbers software
Winner San Jose State University
Formula SAE Recognition of Accomplishment
Teams that successfully score in all events and do not finish in the top 3
University of Maryland - College Park
University of Oklahoma
Western Washington University
University of Toledo
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst
University of Texas - Arlington
San Jose State University
Kookmin University
University of Alberta
Colorado State University
Xiamen University of Technology
Kettering University
University of Idaho
Clemson University
Spirit of Excellence Award
Top three overall finishers - $3000, $2000, $1000
1st Place Rochester Institute of Technology
2nd Place Oregon State University
3rd Place University of Kansas - Lawrence
