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The Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Club on the Florida Tech campus participates in an annual formula competition put on by the Society of Automotive Engineering. This professional international organization exists to facilitate the development of aspiring engineering students through a community of supportive and talented individuals. Currently, the team at FIT participates at FSAEM in Brooklyn, Michigan each May; this is the oldest running and largest competition put on globally for FSAE against 135 other teams from across the globe. The team is composed of students from many different majors and grade levels as a club program, but is lead by a senior engineering design team. The senior team presents their project entry at the Northrop Grumman Senior Design Showcase in April each year at Florida Tech under the category of Mechanical Engineering. For information on how you can become involved, please contact the club through OrgSync, or the team via facebook.
The Formula SAE competition challenges students to act as a design team contracted by a fictional manufacturing company to develop a small Formula-style race car for the non-professional weekend autocross racer. This car must be designed, manufactured, and tested to completion in the span of only one year and on a limited budget. The prototype race car is to be considered for its potential as a production item, and is thus evaluated on a variety of performance characteristics. These include mechanical durability and serviceability, dynamic performance capabilities and drivability, potential profit margin, and overall desirability. Participating teams from across the world are held to the same rigorous set of rules and regulations established to promote the spirit of competition and ingenuity in each team's entry. To prove which team has produced the best vehicle for production, each team competes in 4 dynamic events and 3 static events discussed below.
In previous years, the Florida Tech FSAE teams have averaged a mid-70's placement against other universities in the competition. When considering the 135 entries that travel to the annual Michigan competition, our team has been relatively competitive. This year, our team aims to improve this average by placing 50th or better. This will require a massive effort from the dedicated seniors and club members to achieve our ambitions, as well as a good design strategy. Our primary goal is to have a functional vehicle no later than 31 January, which will allow the team approximately 12 testing sessions. We have determined that testing time is the greatest contributing factor to the success of any team's entry in an FSAE competition; the best car can still perform poorly without adequate driver training and rigerous system cycling. With an average testing session duration of 3 hours, we expect that 36 hours of testing time will give our drivers sufficient confidence in FP19's performance and reliability so that they may drive at the limits and earn the most points possible.
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(FSAEM: Formula Panther 2016 Promotional Video)
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In 2015, FSAE at Florida Tech became the first team to race for a cause. We continue that tradition today as we race for Autism awareness. The Florida Tech SAE team aims to increase autism awareness and give support to those children and families living with autism. We have formally teamed up with Autism Speaks and The Scott Center for Autism Treatment to support the mission of autism awareness Since 2009, The Scott Center for Autism Treatment has helped over 160 families learn to overcome many of the behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This non-profit clinic is dedicated to applying research and high quality treatment and training to improve the function and quality of life of children with ASD and related disabilities in Central Florida. 1 in 68 American children are born with autism. With your help, we can raise awareness and reduce the number of children that go undiagnosed. The Florida Tech FSAE team will design a race car that features an autism awareness scheme in honor of our support towards the children and families living with autism. |
Each year, a vehicle is produced in an effort to improve on the year prior. The vehicle is called the "Formula Panther", after our mascot Pete the Panther.
Place | Car Number | Penalty | Cost | Presentation | Design | Acceleration | Skid Pad | Autocross | Endurance | Efficiency | Total Score | Year |
65 | 98 | -10 | 53.2 | 41.2 | 40 | 3.5 | 19.9 | 67 | 214.8 | 2009 | ||
76 | 52 | 52.2 | 38.7 | 60 | 54.4 | 12 | 217.4 | 2013 | ||||
80 | 54 | 45.2 | 35.1 | 80 | 43.2 | 2.6 | 7.5 | 17 | 230.6 | 2014 | ||
65 | 102 | 70 | 48.2 | 70 | 75.2 | 3 | 266.3 | 2015 | ||||
78 | 94 | 64.8 | 48.1 | 60 | 49.5 | 2.5 | 47.3 | 18 | 290.3 | 2016 | ||
113 | 68 | 47.6 | 23.6 | 60 | 131.2 | 2018 |
Year | Image | Awards | Features | Senior Design Team Members |
FP 19 |
Team Lead: Emily York Lead Engineer: Austin Taft Gabriel Pinto, Rick Hord, Elijah Goodman, Curtiss Thies, Ahmad Alzlfawi, Mohmmad Alyami, Matt Standifer, Nate Jennings, Dallas McCloud, Khaled AlSamri, Rashid Alzaabi, Su Orhan, Johan Mihindukulasuriya, Filippo Mazzanti, Tahir Kanchwala, Matt Petersen, Jessica Goblick |
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FP 18 |
Team Lead: Hunter Lee Lead Engineer: Chelsea Reichard Brian Truong, Phillip Machen, Arnold Tsoka, Blas Gonzalez, Leonardo Imperale, Tony Gonzalez, Mariana Migliori, Siddharth Kuthiala, Leona Liu, Mona Zhang, Luis Fernandes, Elijah Goodman, Allen Chen, Woody Sandhu |
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FP 17 |
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"Best in Show" Northrop Grumman Senior Design Showcase, Florida Tech - 2017 |
Team Lead: Ashton Tassinari Lead Engineer: Justin Butinsky Asher Patton, Diego D'Ignazi, Giovanni Alfieri, Harry Brown, Israel Rivera, Matthew Walsh, Mohamed Almarzoori, Odrik Ferrer, Preston Seward, Roberto Martinez, Saeed Almansoori, Saeed Hassooni, Yifan Qian, Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Abdulmajeed Alali, Zhe Wang, and Alex Frostad |
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FP 16 | ![]() |
Team Lead: Savannah Phillips Lead Engineer: Kyle Bielanos Yousif Mohamed Alblooki, Abdulrahman Almazyad, Luis Burgos Alvaro, Carlos Garcia, Arielle Gunderson, Andrew Hamilla, Neema Issangu, David Magro Garcia, David Matos, Sebastian Villacreces, Lemuel Zamore, and Eduardo Zuniga |
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FP 15 | ![]() |
Team Lead: Blair Kania Lead Engineer: Manuel Jaramillo Mohamed Alamri, Mohammed Aldahas, Gerardo Alfaro, Mohannad Alhenaki, Ahmed Alhosani, Sager Aljeemaz, Fahad Al-Shaibani, Mohammad Alsuwaid, Ibraheem Alyami, Omar Bahamdain, Pablo Cherry, Cody DeCosta, Vivic Harrinanan, Kevin Kunicki, Karim Lotfy, Mark Manke, Mike Pagano, Diego Ramirez, and David Scott |
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FP 14 | ![]() |
Team Lead: Matthew Cosentino Darren Ebanks, Elizabeth Hensley, John Fox, Shreyas Gavit, Ayotunde Adenaike, Florent Sarps, Randy Arjunsingh, Phillip Bunker, Nanabaffo Essilfie, Diego Canelos, Ashlin Romero, Toluwalase Olajoyegbe, Alex E. Bradley,Christopher S. Kelly, Yingying Zheng, Nicolas A. Abruzzesse, Jonathan Kvasnok
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