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October
20, 2003, Vol. 74, No. 9F
Engineers toil to debut Berkeley’s first Formula SAE race car in May The newest addition
to Cal’s menagerie of vehicle teams is the student-spun, formula-style
race car team. Though they’ve been around for three years, this
year will mark the team’s entry into their first Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) Formula competition. About a dozen students
are currently toiling on their first race car in a garage at the Richmond
Field Station. This May they will test the finished product in the international
college competition, where Cal will compete against established teams,
some with 20 years of experience. Despite its neophyte
status and lack of funds, the team exudes a contagious confidence and
members believe they will place in the top 10. With ambitions
of working in the auto industry, team captain and ME senior Kirk Feldkamp
almost didn’t come to Cal because the school lacked a Formula SAE
team. Since employers in the auto industry look for Formula SAE participation
on student resumes, he decided to start a Berkeley team. It took years
to garner the student interest, support and funding needed to build
the first car. Funding has been
the biggest challenge so far, as it will cost between $16,000 and $20,000
to finish the car. Kirk and fellow team members not only spend their
free time pursuing sponsorship, but have contributed personal funds
to the project. Their big break
came when the team met Ted and Nancy James, racing experts who agreed
to be their advisors and gave them access to their expensive equipment.
“We wouldn’t
be here without them. They taught us how to start a car from scratch,”
says Feldkamp. There are many
benefits to team participation, says Feldkamp. It’s a chance to
apply classroom theory to hands-on work, but it’s also an opportunity
to belong to a racing community on campus. “There are a lot of
times when we just go out to the garage and talk about cars,” says
Feldkamp. Currently, dedicated
team members spend between 15 and 20 hours a week on the car’s
construction. What attracts them to the SAE project instead of Cal’s
other, more established vehicle teams is the excitement of a start up
and the speed of the vehicle. Once finished, the car will go from zero
to 60 in 3 1û2 seconds. ME freshman and
team member Manolis Dimotakis says that his decision to come to Berkeley
was influenced by the Formula SAE team. Feldkamp hopes
the College will realize that Formula SAE is a great resource for recruiting.
“I would love the ME department to use us as the recruitment ground
for incoming freshman,” he says. Right now the team
is not only focusing on placing high in May’s competition, but
it has already started the computer work for next year’s car. Winning
might not be everything, but Feldkamp thinks it is likely to open many
valuable doors for the team. “Everybody loves a winner and we hope
that with success will come greater College support,” he adds. To learn more about the Formula SAE team go to fsae.berkeley.edu |
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