The Clemson Formula team made a strong statement at the 2012 Formula SAE Competition at Michigan International Speedway. The team has long been regarded as an underdog within the ranks, but this year the team logged its first top twenty finish since 2004. The 20th place finish means that Clemson beat 100 other registered teams from around the world and gained momentum for the following years. With nearly the entire team returning for next season, the future looks bright for CUFSAE, and the team leaders have big plans for the coming years. Some highlights from the competition include the team finishing 21st in endurance, the most challenging of events, with only forty-five schools finishing the event. Also, awards within the team were given to Shaun Hoyt, as the rookie of the year for his dedicated work especially close to competition time, and to Jeff Fischer. Jeff received the Most Valuable Member award for his tireless commitment to the team and his contributions to the car. We must thank our sponsors and contributors again and again, for without them, we could have never achieved this. For more in-depth coverage of the event, look for the newsletter that covers the individual events and personal contributions and remember, GO TIGERS!

In order to create the lightest and strongest parts to put on CUFSAE 2012, the student engineers turn to aluminum and precision machining to get the job done.  CUFSAE engineering students designed many components of the car to be made out of blocks of aluminum machined into form.  The parts were all designed using Solidworks and verified with finite element analysis.  Several partners help us with our machining tasks, and this year we are excited to announce that we’ve added a few more.

Clemson Machining and Technical Services and Earnhardt Technologies Group continued their annual support for our team by building parts such as our uprights (shown left), hubs, trigger wheels, and tripod housings.  For 2012, we also received help from Club Car and Koyo Bearings who helped with our differential mounting brackets and wheel centers.  Outsourcing our complex parts to companies like these has allowed our engineers to design with greater attention to performance and greater freedom to explore new designs and concepts.  Students also receive experience in working with real machinists to complete these complex machining processes correctly and efficiently.  We couldn’t do it without our machining partners, and for that we extend our sincerest gratitude to Clemson MTS, ETG, Koyo Bearings, and Club Car.

We are proud to announce that Eaton Corp. has agreed to sponsor CUFSAE for the 2011-2012 racing season as a Secondary Level sponsor!  Eaton has been an industry leader in diversified power management solutions for over 100 years and has extensive ties to the automotive industry.  With facilities in South Carolina, and Clemson alumni and students working for Eaton, it was a natural fit for the company to join the team.  With Eaton’s contribution to the team, we will be able to take another step closer to our goal of becoming a top 10 finisher at the Formula SAE Michigan 2012 Competition.

March 2012 Newsletter

A perennial supporter of our race team, HMS Motorsport has once again donated a brand new Schroth racing harness.  The Profi III-6 competition racing harness will be installed in our 2012 Formula SAE racecar to keep our student drivers safe while racing.  The belts feature a quick release center lock, and six points of connection to the chassis of the car to provide the highest level of safety.  We greatly appreciate HMS Motorsport’s contribution to the team, because the safety of our students is our first priority.

On Tuesday, February 28th, CUFSAE attended the annual SAE Carolinas Student Presentation night to present our team’s progress since last year.  Each year, schools from around the Carolinas meet at a Carolinian university to talk about their successes as well as to meet with professionals from the automotive industry.  This year, the event was held at the motorsports research facility of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Formula, Baja, Supermileage, and other SAE student design competitions were all in attendance.  Each team is asked to present at the event and dinner is provided to all those attending.  This year, Clemson Formula SAE captured the best presentation award.  At the competition, team members Mark Snyder, Jeff Fischer, and Perry Ellwood presented to judges and industry members about our progress.

Last weekend we held our first test session of the season in the Clemson University C1 Parking Lot.  Parking Services allows us to use the commuter lot for free as long as we make sure that our members and spectators are all safe in the process.  To get the two cars, tools, and gear out to the parking lot, we borrow a truck from the Facilities department!  We definitely couldn’t do this without the support of our university.

At the test, the 2004 car ran all day with new and old members at the helm.  Getting the new members in the car is a great way to put the racing bug into the members.  It was awesome to see our new and old members enjoying the sheer thrill of autocross in a formula car.  On the serious side, we were dialing-in our new traction and launch control in the 2011 car.  Our veteran drivers poured over finding the best ECU setup so that we can become more competitive in the Acceleration event at the FSAE Michigan Competition.

In the end, the test was very successful, and everyone had a great day out in the parking lot.  Our new members had a blast in their first experience driving a formula car, and great strides were made to perfect our traction control and launch control.  Our next test session will be March 17th at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds.

The February Newsletter has been published!  Check out the latest news about CUFSAE including new sponsor announcements, team spotlight, car update, and much more!  If you would like to be added to our newsletter e-mail list to get these newsletters sent directly to you, please e-mail Kenny Brown at clemsonfsae@gmail.com

February 2012 Newsletter

TTI is the parent company of consumer, professional, and industrial tools and machinery for all applications.  A world-wide leader in high quality home improvement, repair, and construction products, TTI and CUFSAE share the vision of combining exceptional people with the best resources to create a great product.  TTI is known for its power tool brands such as Milwaukee and Ryobi which are brands that can be found at the Clemson University Formula SAE race shop.  Donating at the associate sponsor level, TTI is another natural partner of the team and we are proud to have their support for the 2011-2012 Formula SAE racing season.

CUFSAE and Koyo Bearings by Jtekt Group, have joined forces for the 2011-2012 Formula SAE racing season.  An industry leader in bearing technology, and located at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research campus, Koyo was a natural fit for supporting the team.  Koyo Bearings designs high performance bearings for a myriad of applications ranging from industrial to automotive powertrain.  After last years lackluster bearing performance, we will be proud to install some new Koyo bearings on the 2012 CUFSAE racecar. Koyo Bearings will be contributing to the team as a Secondary Sponsor, and will appear on the cars panels, trailer, and team shirts.  For more information about Koyo Bearings, please go to : koyousa.com or check them out on the 2012 CUFSAE racecar.