About Formula SAE® Series
In 1981, SAE International (formerly known as Society of Automotive Engineers) developed and managed the first Formula SAE® (FSAE®) student competition with assistance of Ron Matthews, Professor at University of Texas. SAE International operated the only Formula SAE competition for 17 years before its partnership with IMeche (Institution of Mechanical Engineers) in England where the brand “Formula Student” was developed. Since its inception, Formula SAE has expanded and includes many spin-off events. In the North America there are three competitions managed by SAE International one in Michigan, California and Ontario, Canada. Internationally, the expansion of Formula SAE/Formula Student brand has exploded to over 20 competitions currently hosted by engineering societies or private business.
The Formula SAE competitions challenge teams of university undergraduate and graduate students to conceive, design, fabricate, develop and compete with small, formula style vehicles. The competition is an engineering education competition that requires performance demonstration of vehicles in a series of events, both off track and on track against the clock. Each competition gives teams the chance to demonstrate their creativity and engineering skills in comparison to teams from other universities around the world.
Teams are to assume that they work for an engineering firm that is designing, fabricating, testing and demonstrating a prototype vehicle. The vehicle should have high performance and be sufficiently durable to successfully complete all the event at the Formula SAE competitions. Each student team design will be judged and evaluated again other competing designs in a series of Static and Dynamic events to determine the vehicle that best meets the design goals and profitably built and marketed.
Formula SAE promotes careers and excellence in engineering as it encompasses all aspects of the automotive industry including research, design, manufacturing, testing, developing, marketing, management and finances.
In 2006, Dartmouth College (partnered with SAE International) created the fuel alternative event Formula Hybrid using Formula SAE cars with gasoline-electric hybrid power plants.
In 2013, Formula SAE saw the implementation of battery electric class to the portfolio already containing internal combustion gasoline.