| NEWS
| July 19, 2005
Engineering
Formula SAE team blazes competition at weekend race
Teams from several universities
met here for the contest in which UTA’s car beat the others
by about five seconds.
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| The Shorthorn: Sara Bookout |
| Mechanical engineering freshman
Chris Story flies through a makeshift track Saturday
in the South 40 parking lot. Story sped past everyone
else with a time of 53.3 seconds in the first set of races. |
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By Rebekah
Workman
The Shorthorn Staff
Chris Story removed the steering wheel
and climbed into the small space. Gearing up, he put on his helmet,
replaced the wheel and started the engine.
He pulled up to the line, and the signal was given. The rush began
as he raced against time on a track designed to challenge the 2005
Formula SAE car and its driver.
The majority of times averaged around 58 seconds, but he completed
the course in 53.3 seconds — the best time of the day.
“They pull something like two g’s through the corners,”
the mechanical engineering freshman said excitedly. “Two times
the force of gravity. They’re pretty fast — really impressive.”
Students from New Mexico, Kansas, Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma came
to UTA on Saturday and Sunday to learn and race their Formula SAE
cars on the course. Mechanical engineering
professor Bob Woods said the event allows students from different
universities to show off the cars they designed and built while
having fun.
“We have seven cars here today,” Dr. Woods said. “We
keep all our cars, and most universities don’t.”
Story said it’s fun to race and observe the other cars while
not being under the pressure of competition.
“At this point, everybody’s got their car sorted out
so they can show more about what their car can actually do,”
he said. “It’s a really good learning experience.”
Industrial engineering junior Nathan Christiansen went off the course
the first time but pulled it together during his second attempt,
making every effort to avoid hitting the cones.
“It’s controlled violence,” he said. “You’re
operating at the limits of the physical world, limited by how much
grip you can get with your tires.”
Tim Patek, mechanical engineering graduate student, said the race
is a fun day geared toward driving different university cars, using
them for design ideas.
“The car can perform faster than you can handle it,”
Patek said. “It’ll scare you sometimes. Things happen
so fast.”
Volunteer students spend 40-60 hours a week working on the cars.
“It’s a lot of work, but you learn so much more engineering
than you can in a classroom,” Story said. “You can use
what they’re telling you and apply it to the car.”
Woods predicted UTA students would complete the course on top, and
they succeeded.
“We’re always a dominant team,” he said.
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