Formula SAE Sponsors Find Recruitment to be the Number One Benefit
Posted: May 17, 2024
Formula SAE students are top talent and industry knows it.
SAE’s University Programs could not exist without the support of our various partners, each who play not only an important role in competition season, but in the mobility industry itself. The robust group of sponsors and volunteers at Michigan International Speedway joining us for the 2024 Formula SAE IC competition proved just that.
Rachelle Preston, Project Manager for New Product Development at BluePrint Engines, enjoyed her first time at Formula SAE.
“This is our first year sponsoring and it’s been a really good experience,” she said. “We’ve been checking out all the testing that’s going on and that’s pretty cool to see but also getting to talk to kids that are interested in going into the automotive industry, so it’s been a great experience.”
BluePrint Engines is a crate engine manufacturer based out of Nebraska that’s become the number one source for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler compatible engines. Preston noted getting talent to want to move to Nebraska has been a challenge so connecting with students from the surrounding states has been a good opportunity for the company.
While Preston got a first look at what SAE’s University Programs are all about at Formula IC, others are quite familiar with SAE.
Jeremy Noel, Manager Mechanism Engineering on Starship at SpaceX, was a member of his university’s Formula team, MIT Motorsports, during his undergraduate education, and he credits Formula SAE for being the reason he has the job he does today. Coming back to SAE events as a professional and representing his current organization is a full circle moment for Noel and the experience he gained as a Formula student shaped him into who he is today.
“It was a super cool experience being a Formula student; it was one of my favorite parts of college. I think it was instrumental to building how I approach real life problems, how to sort out making hardware, which has transitioned nicely into what I do at SpaceX and really contributed to my success,” Noel said.
Samuel Dobry, Mechanical Design Engineer at Haas Automation, echoed Noel’s sentiments as he was a member of the University of Hawaii’s Formula SAE for five years.
“I’ve applied pretty much everything I’ve learned in my day to day working at Haas Automation. From the hands-on skills I gained to the troubleshooting and technical iterative design processes that I learned through Formula, [these] are all things I use on a regular basis,” Dobry said.
In addition to providing financial support to run the event, the Formula SAE sponsors are using the competition as an opportunity to recruit.
“At Haas, at least 80% are alumni of SAE’s Formula or Baja competitions. We’re looking to recruit people all the time and we know where they’re coming from and that’s these SAE events,” Dobry said. “We decided to come out here and support the event overall and use this as an opportunity to recruit, as well as give back to the students with our expertise.”
Noel agreed the recruitment possibilities were one of the biggest benefits of sponsoring SAE’s University Programs events.
“Almost all my interns are from Formula SAE, they tend to be more experienced and great talent so always super stoked to come onsite and connect with the students,” he said.
Hundreds of industry-leading corporations and tech companies support and volunteer with us every year. There are several sponsorship opportunities available for our various University Programs competitions.
Find the best fit for your organization and contact Brandie Sberna, University Programs Sales Specialist, at brandie.sberna@sae.org to get involved.