Our Crowdfunding Groups
Formula SAE is an engineering student organization that designs and builds a small formula-style race car in order to Compete in the Formula SAE Competition in Lincoln, Nebraska every June. Our team is comprised of 60 students from various backgrounds all belonging to at least one of our subsystems: Aerodynamics, Brakes & Driver Interface, Business, Chassis Drivetrain, Engine, Electrical, and Suspension. Since our establishment in 2001, our dedicated members have worked their way from a simple engineering club to one of the top competitors in the nation. Each year we have shown growth in both our engineering design and project management skills. Please support our desire to learn and innovate!
Our project runs year-round. Once we finish Competition in June, we begin preparing for the next car by validating our designs during the Summer Testing Phase. This will give us the data we need to further understand our vehicle and improve our designs. During the Fall semester we enter into the Design Phase in which each subsystem undergoes multiple design reviews with sponsors and alumni to ensure that they are working efficiently toward the goals they set at the beginning of the year. Once design is complete, we begin our Manufacturing Phase. During these two months, student machinists make over 300 unique parts for our vehicle and student welders weld our steel space frame chassis. The rest of our members assist by preparing and assembling steel tubes for chassis welding and fabricating foam molds and carbon fiber sheets for the aerodynamic devices.
Once we assemble all these components, we move into the Testing Phase. This is the most crucial part of our process as we work to debug the car, validate our designs, and tune the car for optimal performance. At the end of Testing we will be to able to go to Competition fully prepared. Competition itself takes one full week of June. Here our team will be tested on both their knowledge of their designs, as it relates to vehicle dynamics, and their knowledge of the market, as they attempt the sell the car to potential “investors.” Static events include design, fuel efficiency, business, and cost. The car itself is then put to the test in a series of dynamic events that overall test the car's acceleration, cornering performance, and endurance. By the end of the week, the team walks away with great gains of knowledge, achievement of year well-done… and hopefully a trophy!
STEM education is important to our members. We constantly strive for innovation and these developments not only help to improve our car for competition but also help improve the our knowledge in design and project management. This would not be possible without sufficient funding so we thank you for your time and consideration. Please show your support today!
Below is a point form breakdown of how we plan on using the $10,000 budget.
With our crowdfunding efforts, if we reach our goal of $10,000, we have a number of big ticket developments that require these funds. Firstly, converting our car from naturally aspirated to being turbocharged, requires $2000 for all the turbocharging components. Secondly, continuing developing and testing our car’s aerodynamic streamlining requires $2000 to construct and test our carbon fiber aerodynamic components such as the front wing, the side ducts, and wheel shells. Thirdly, to continue our weight reduction development as well as making our manufacturing process more efficient, we want to invest in additive manufacturing and CDC machining technologies amounting to $2000. Also, testing is critical to the efficiency of our team. We want to invest in custom data acquisition systems amounting to $500 to expedite data logging and analysis. Additionally, we want to invest $1500 in vehicle dynamic sensors (i.e beta angle, accelerometers, and wireless strain gauges). This will allow us to better characterize the dynamics of our vehicle so we can further understand and improve our designs.
Catch us if you can!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calracing/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calformulasae/
Website: http://fsae.berkeley.edu/
Email: fsae@me.berkeley.edu
We'd love to recognize your support by sending you a personal electronic thank you letter from our team!
We will send you a personalized handwritten thank you from from the team!
Remember your donation to our team with a signed team photo and hand written thank you note.
Have your name recognized on the Berkeley Formula Racing website, while also receiving a personalized handwritten thank you note.
Come out to our facilities and get a personal tour of our work area and garage, along with a mention on our website!
Our grandest sponsors will receive old aerodynamic elements from past years with team signatures. Not only this, you will receive the following: facility tour and a meet-and-greet with the team, recognition at our B19 car reveal event, recognition on our website and social media.
