Cardinal Formula Racing is revving up for an annual student design competition at the Michigan International Speedway.
The five-day event, in which 120 teams are participating, is part of the Collegiate Design Series hosted by SAE International.
The director of Cardinal Formula Racing and professor of mechanical engineering Brooks Byam said this competition is the team’s sole focus each year.
“It’s the collegiate world championship of motorsports,” Byam said. “It’s like the Olympics for race cars.”
He has been the director of Cardinal Formula Racing since 1998.
Team membership is open to any student of any discipline and is a mainly student-led.
“We are a cross between a research group, an organization and an athletic team,” Byam said.
The current team is comprised of twenty people, mainly mechanical and electrical engineering students, but also accounting, art and marketing students.
“A cost report and marketing presentation is required as part of the competition,” Byam said.
The team works throughout the year to create, design, build and test a small Formula-style race car.
The students oversee the entire process and Byam noted the opportunity to see the entire design process was valuable, especially for engineering students.
“This is a must-do project for any student who wants to work in the auto industry,” Byam said. “They get to directly apply what they’re learning and start solving problems in a globally competitive way like they’ll have to do in the workforce.”
The team has completed this year’s design and is in the process of assembling the car.
“The challenge is that we have to start over each year,” Byam said. “The cars are complex and you can get into a lot of trouble if you’re not careful. We have to analyze each race and see where we can gain on performance.”
Another challenge is sufficient manpower.
Cardinal Formula Racing is a comparatively small team to those of other schools, who are often able to pull students from graduate programs.
“We have to dedicate our time to targeted efforts in order to get the car done on time,” Byam said.
Even once the car is built, days of testing and tinkering are required before it will be ready for competition.
“I tell my students that when they have the car built and done, then they are 60 percent finished,” Byam said.
Despite these challenges, the team is a consistently strong contender in the competition.
“It’s a dynamic demonstration of the vitality of SVSU and its students,” Byam said. “It’s a point of pride to see what we can do and compete against bigger teams.”
Students interested in joining Cardinal Formula Racing can contact Byam at bpbyam@svsu.edu.
He is specifically interested in venture capitalist fundraising to get more investors for the team.
“Students don’t realize how much detail is needed to get that little race car exactly right,” Byam said. “It’s great experience right here on campus and because of the level of competition, you get a lot out of the project for what you put in.”
