UC Formula SAE Team in the Top 10!

Bearcat MotorSports, the University of Cincinnati Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Team, finished strong with a fifth-place finish in the Endurance Competition, winding up in 10th place overall out of a field of 104 entries in the second race of the 2008 race season, held at the Michigan International Speedway, continuing the team’s success over the last four races (including the 2007 race season).

Once again, the University of Cincinnati was the top team from the Big East Conference and finished in the top five for U.S. competitors. This finish marks the fourth race in a row that the Bearcats have finished in the top 10. In two races last year, Bearcat MotorSports finished fourth at the Michigan FSAE competition in May 2007 and again placed fourth in the Formula SAE student competition held at the Silverstone Circuit in England in July 2007. Earlier this year, Bearcat MotorSports finished fourth in the Virginia FSAE event.

“We are again very proud of the success of our mechanical engineering students in the Formula SAE racecar events, which is one of the most competitive collegiate engineering design competitions in the world,” said Professor Teik Lim, head of the Mechanical Engineering Department. “The student team had less than three academic quarters to design, build and test a Formula One style racecar from scratch.” 

The 2008 Formula SAE competition, held at the Michigan International Speedway over the last four days, was won by the University of Western Australia, followed by the University of Stuttgart and the University of Munich. The highest placing U.S. team was the University of Wisconsin in fourth place, followed by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia), the Technical University of Graz (Austria), Cornell University, the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly Missouri-Rolla), the University of Florida and the University of Cincinnati, rounding out the Top Ten. Official results are posted on the SAE Web site. 

Bearcat MotorSports is the UC student group that participates in Formula SAE (FSAE), a collegiate design competition sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers and supported by all of the major automotive companies and suppliers. This competition was the inaugural event at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., for FSAE, although the event has been held at other Michigan sites for more than 15 years.

The competition involves the design, construction and testing of an open-wheel, Formula One-style racecar. The students are involved in design, cost analysis and sales/marketing presentations, as well as static and driving competitions against more than 104 other collegiate teams over four days. This event is the second event of the US FSAE race season and is limited to approximately 120 universities from all over the world. This year, 125 teams registered with 104 teams actually competing in the event. The UC team’s success in this and other recent events stems from the ability to develop a quick and reliable racecar.

Fewer than one-third of the teams were able to finish the Endurance Event in a short enough time to score points. Bearcat MotorSports will compete in one more US FSAE event this season, the California FSAE event June 25–28, 2008, against 80 universities. Currently, there are affiliated Formula SAE races in the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, Brazil and counting!

Bearcat MotorSports is partially supported by the University Funding Board, as one of several Academic Intercollegiate Competition (AIC) groups. Additional funding comes from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the College of Engineering, the Herman Schneider Foundation, several large local industry partners (Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Toyota, General Electric, Cummins, Ethicon Endosurgery) as well as a large number of smaller industry partners (DieCraft Machining & Engineering, Performance Electronics, Morris Technologies, SSK Industries).

Notably, a UC alumnus, Randy Alexoff, president of Vari-Wall Tube Specialists, has assumed a role as a major sponsor for the team the past several years, providing a significant amount of funding that has allowed the team to be more competitive.

This year’s team is dominated by senior mechanical engineering students. The team leader is Bill Wise (a five-year veteran of the team), who together with graduate student advisor Fred Jabs, Matt Warner, Skyler Street, Damien Loisy, Tony Louderbough and Todd Sohngen, operate as the technical committee. Tony Louderbough and Nick Ciavarro work together in the business leader role, managing funds and sponsorship efforts. Other team members include Nate Brown, Bob Czanik, Wesley Czech, Jay Davison, Chris Larsen, DJ Leisl, Dan Prince, Dan Ruggiero, Dennis Spitznagel, Ben Stayton, Chris Stough and Kyle Waymeyer, plus a number of other undergraduate students who contribute their time when possible.

Department head Teik Lim is duly proud of the team.

“This success not only signifies the hard work and dedication of our students but also demonstrates the quality of engineering talent in our program,” he says. “This is a strong validation of our mechanical engineering curriculum that emphasizes both engineering fundamentals and experiential learning.”

For more information, please contact Team Leader Bill Wise, Special Events Coordinator Nick Ciavarro or Faculty Advisor Professor R.J. Allemang.

Related News:

UC Bearcat MotorSports in Top 4 Formula Form Again!
Bearcat MotorSports finishes first in Fuel Economy Event in the 2008 Formula SAE competition, held the last weekend of April at the Virginia International Raceway.

UC’s Formula Car Finishes Fourth in International Competition
Bearcat MotorSports was the only U.S. team to place in the top five at Formula Student competition in Silverstone.