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A group of mechanical engineering students went from the classroom to the race pits this year. They are now ready to get behind the wheel and under the hood against 120 other schools in the Formula SAE competition in Michigan this week.
A dozen seniors plus five underclassmen have been working since the fall semester to get their Formula One car ready to roll as part of their senior capstone engineering project.
The students have learned everything from stress analysis to welding to the importance of teamwork in the design and construction process, leading up to the Formula SAE East competition in Romeo, Mich. May 16-20.
Group advisor Jeff Helm, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, says that the various challenges the project presents give the students the opportunity to learn far more than they could in simple classroom instruction.
“You’ve got to take a problem that’s big and break it into a bunch of smaller problems and assign those to individual teams. You have to make sure all your individual teams communicate with each other,” Helm says. “That’s real. That’s exactly what you have to do as an engineer whether you’re working with cars or out there designing all the machinery that goes into the factory.”
Formula SAE team members are divided into three groups: the chassis group, the engine drive train group, and the suspension and steering group. While each has a unique function, all must continually communicate to make sure their work is being done in tandem.
According to team leader Jeff Silvan ’07 (West Barnstable, Mass.), each team member must work together to learn the most efficient way to spend the group’s time.
“I’ve always loved cars, so this project was a perfect fit for me,” Silvan says. “The project taught me how to balance the time spent on the design phase versus the time spent in the manufacturing phase of an actual engineering project. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way since we spent too much time on the design aspect and did not leave enough time to finish building the car.”
Learning how to deal with those situations is one of the most educational aspects of the project, Helm says.
“Inevitably, you have to figure out how you deal with the fact that you start falling behind,” he says. “Communication skills are going to make or break your career when you go out as an engineer. That will largely determine your success in the outside world.”
The project already has paid dividends for Silvan, who has signed on with IBM to work in Fairfax, Va., as a consultant after graduation. He says all of his prospective employers were greatly interested when he told them he was helping build a Formula SAE car.
“Being involved in this project, especially in a leadership role, was invaluable in my job search,” he says.
Students used a 600cc engine on their car, which they will have to put through a series of tests at the competition. Should something go wrong there, they are largely on their own in trying to figure out how to fix the problem.
“I took a course in finite analysis during the fall semester at the same time we were designing the chassis,” Silvan recalls. “I was able to use what I learned in that course to perform stress analysis on the chassis, which helped cut the weight of the frame by approximately one-half compared to previous years.
Helm praises the dedication Lafayette shows to the program, which he says helps it compete against many of the larger schools involved.
“We’re one of the smallest schools that competes in this,” he noted. “It’s only because we’ve had the support of the rest of the school and our department that we can compete with the much larger schools that have considerably greater resources to put into it.”
Chassis team members are Silvan and Mike Soldiviero (Lincroft, N.J.). Suspension and steering team members are Josh Shrom (Lancaster, Pa.), Jon Winn (Fairfield, Conn.), Matt Phillips (Darien, Conn.), Jamison Caldwell (Mount Airy, Md.), and Mark Svevar (Northvale, N.J.) and Kelsey Pegden (Sewickley, Pa.), who are also pursuing A.B. degrees in international studies. Engine and drive train team members are Chris Mougeotte (Abbottstown, Pa.), Chip Morgan (Pen Argyl, Pa.), Jimmy Meehan (Barrington, R.I.) and Dan Rea (Westfield, N.J.). Participating underclassmen are James Parsekian ’08 (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Dan DiMartino ’08 (North Haledon, N.J.), Brian Wolz ’08 (Knoxville, Md.), Dave Goral ’08 (Long Branch, N.J.) and Willy Velkoff ’10 (Sayville, N.Y.).