Queen's students on the fast track
Posted By Emma Taylor
Updated 6 months ago
Since 1991 an undergraduate team of students from the Faculty of Applied Science and the Mechanical Engineering department have been designing, constructing and testing a Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) race car.
The team is comprised of 15 mechanical engineering students; Adam Allore, Dan Chown, Adam Neil, Duncan Gawel, Tyler Daoust, Ken Patchett, Chris Gilmour, Carlos Campos, Andrew van Warmerdam, Carl Levitt, Steven Bobyk, Andy Jakubek, Omar Kaddoura, Justin Huneault and Hugh Kolias.
They just competed at a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) competition in Michigan this past May against 125 other teams from around the world. They placed 55th in what has become the largest student engineering competition, said team member Adam Allore, 20. The cars are graded on speed, general design, fuel consumption, how fast it turns, as well as a cost and business presentation, and they also compete in an autocross race.
The cars are powered by motorcycle engines and are made purely for performance said Allore. They can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometres in three and a half seconds reaching a top speed of 160 kilometres an hour. The team designs and constructs everything in house and build approximately 90 per cent of the parts. Working on the project gives team members an opportunity to learn about machining and engineering and allows them to network with people in the industry.
Allore said most people are familiar with the Queen’s solar cars but few have heard about the formula cars. “We’re trying to increase our exposure and become a little more known,” he said.
The team works out of the machine shop on the first floor of McLaughlin Hall and are constantly developing and testing new technologies searching for what works, what is fastest, and what is easiest to make. The process starts with 3-D modeling and once the car looks complete and sound the construction begins. The team builds their own chassey, suspension, carbon fibre body, and custom intake and exhaust on the engine.
“That’s what shocks people the most is the fact that we’ve literally built the car from the ground up,” said Allore.
It is a costly endeavour at approximately $20,000 to build the car and attend one of the competitions. The team has to raise all of their own funds, and tries to get as much exposure and as many companies on board as they can. “The faculty does give some support and they allow the team to use the machine shop, and the rest is raised through sponsorship,” said Allore.
Currently Goodyear, Aurora Bearing Company, NTN Bearing Corporation, Mattamy Homes, 3M Trimline Kingston, Electromotive, True Gear, JAC Coating, Iscar, NSK Bearings, Cymat, Rapid Prototype Ink, Polaris, Phoenix, Vanzuylen Alignment and Tire Service, Razor and the Kirk-Habicht Company are sponsoring the team.
Budget constraints have meant that the team has only been able to attend one competition a year. Allore said they hope to be able to raise the funds to attend an SAE competition in California next June as well as the competition in Michigan.
Adam Neil, 20, is going into fourth year and said it was challenging finding enough time to get schoolwork done and still put a lot of time into the project. “Getting it done before competition is a big push,” he said. It took approximately 10,000 hours over the past year to get the 2009 model completed. The upcoming 2010 car is currently in the design phase.
For more information on the Formula SAE car visit the website at HYPERLINK “http://www.qssae.com” www.qssae.com.
