It’s a bright, sunny day, and you’ve decided to hop in your car and drive with the windows down while blasting Katy Perry’s latest pop single. Positive vibes circulate in the air as you begin to lip sync the chorus and bridge, all while trying to dance and somehow maintain control of the vehicle. Now, imagine transitioning from a summer drive down the lane in an average vehicle to a raceway, reeking of gas and cluttered with other cars just like yours: a formula car. The burst of adrenaline, determination to win and wonderful scent of oil collide, making for an experience unique to formula racing. Bryan Reinheimer, a fifth year Mechanical Engineering major and chief engineer of the RIT Formula SAE Racing Team, described it best, “the experience of driving a formula car is faster than anything you have experienced.”

It’s a common assumption that the RIT Formula Racing Team is only for driving; many people view it differently. Reinheimer specifically saw joining the team as a way to “help … implement everything you learn in the classroom and take it to the next level.” Not only specific to mechanical engineering, the RIT Formula team allows students from all types of majors to join. “We had business majors, art majors and new media students help us out, and not only at what they’re good at,” says Reinheimer. “You can build up and become something if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.”

Ed Gliss, a fifth year Mechanical Engineering major and project manager, shares a similar view, “[It’s] a venue to apply some of the basis of your class work to a real-world application and a great opportunity to develop interpersonal skills such as conflicting design ideas and engineering dynamics.” Even though the thought of driving a formula car is what entices potential recruits, it is the satisfaction that to have taken part in something amazing and the experience earned that keeps them.

Design and Innovation

Tyler Peterson, a third year Mechanical Engineering and Technology major, welds the chassis of RIT’s 2011 car.
Josh Kuckens

Building something isn’t easy. It takes teamwork, a keen understanding of your role and a large commitment of time in order to fulfill such a task. It is no different when designing a formula racecar, wherein you could potentially spend 60 hours a week working on your section of the car.

The design process is notably the most difficult part due to the safety regulations and restrictions that the team must follow. Here, however, also lies the beauty in formula racing — car design. Unlike other industries, where you can only pull ideas from one direction, formula racing gives you the freedom to design the car best-suited to meet the needs of the race. As Reinheimer pointed out, “You can take any approach, go to the competition and see hundreds of different ways of teams attempting to solve the same problem while having the best-designed car.” Each member of the team is responsible for assisting with the design and manufacturing of several areas of the car such as the chassis, composites and brakes. It is then the duty of the chief engineer to combine the different aspects of the car into a complete, race-conquering machine.

With a history spanning 19 years, don’t think that the RIT Formula Team is simply content to build the same car repeatedly. Thanks to the legacy they have built, the team is able to look back on previous designs to see what ideas have the potential to be repeated and what supposed innovation should be avoided. Even today, the team is innovating; they are using an updated engine for increased performance and investing in a new carbon-fiber chassis that allows for more freedom in the overall design process.

Tournaments!

Tim Moran, a second year Mechanical engineering major, welding the chassis of RIT’s 2011 car.
Josh Kuckens

The biggest draw of RIT Formula Racing team has to be the tournaments that the team takes part in every year. Most notable is their journey to Hockenheimring, Germany, one of the most difficult competitions in the race series. Making their fourth appearance in 2010, the team managed to take fifth place out of 76 teams.

When asked about the journey, Gliss had one word, “phenomenal,” emphasizing the professional feel of the race. “It’s punctual. When they say an event is going to start, it starts at that point, which makes it easier for the team to plan ahead and make sure you have everything accounted for, for that specific event.” While in Germany, Gliss and his teammates learned the surprising impact culture has on car design: “You can see the location difference in a European car versus an American car or an Australian car,” he said.

Germany is just one of three races the team participates in each year. The first race is held in Detroit, Mich. The Detroit race is also the largest competition held, and the team again left with a fifth place finish. The next is in sunny California. For the second year in a row, the team managed to earn a first place overall victory, grabbing a top three spot in the majority of the categories.

The RIT Formula Racing team definitely has a bright future ahead of it. With continuing innovation and a high sense of camaraderie, the team shares a special bond that only comes with designing brakes and racing cars. No matter the major, as long as you have an interest in designing a car, then the RIT Formula Racing team is certainly a fine choice. As the team attends more races — and hopefully gains more first-place finishes — they will certainly leave a mark for future members to try to surpass the high achievements the current team has already set.