The Sooner Racing Team is busily working to put together a
formula racing-style car for competition this summer. This team of around 12
builds a new car from scratch every year, and has made a name for themselves as
one of the top teams to watch out for at the competitions.
According to the Society of Automotive Engineers’ website
for the student competition in 2011 they won second place overall in the
SAE-west competition in California, this is the competition that pits 80 school
teams from the western part of the nation against each other. At these
competitions the car is tested in topics ranging from cost effectiveness to
endurance trials.
The competitions can also prove to be a good place to get
hired as well, as president of the Sooner Racing Team, Robert Schwartz,
explains.
“So actually at competitions there is usually employers just
uh, walking through the pits walking around asking if anyone has resumes
because they know that these students are the ones who have put in the long
hours and worked really hard. “ Schwartz said.
The team is given one-third of the money it needs from OU,
while they have to fund raise for the rest of the money that they need, usually
by garnering sponsors.
The team members start out with more of the simpler
machinations of the car in their first and second year and then as juniors and
seniors they move on to more complicated things like the suspension and the
engine intake.
The team works on the car for a year. Usually starting in August
and going to the competitions in June of the next year. The students don’t get
school credit for their work. Civil engineering junior Ryan Campbell explains
what he personally gets out of it.
“At the end of the year when the car is done and together
and you get to see what you have put a whole lot of hard work into come
together as something.” Campbell said, “Its really cool and its really
rewarding.”
The team is still building the car for this year’s
competitions. Their car will be ready to race this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment