The Formula SAE team competing in 2016. Photo from the team’s Facebook page.

Missouri University of Science and Technology’s Formula Car Design Team will travel approximately 900 miles to race at the Formula SAE-North competition in Barrie, Ontario.

The event, a national student design competition sponsored by SAE International, is June 1-4. The competition challenges students to design, build and operate small-scale cars. Missouri S&T’s team will compete against other collegiate teams from around the world.

During the competition, a skid-pad event tests the car’s turning and cornering on a figure-eight-shaped course. An acceleration test measures the car’s speed over a short distance. A one-lap autocross event proves the car’s maneuverability on a tight course and determines the starting order for the final event – an endurance race to prove durability. In the endurance race, the car must withstand the stress of long-term driving at elevated speeds. Each race is timed to rank the teams; none of the events are head-to-head races.

Missouri S&T’s team focused on reducing the car’s weight for this year’s competition. The car features a newly redesigned aerodynamics package that helps produce approximately 400 pounds of downforce. The team also changed oil systems to an internal wet sump, which saved over 25 pounds. For more information about the S&T Formula SAE team, visit facebook.com/mstfsae.

The Formula SAE Design Team is one of 18 student-run teams in Missouri S&T’s Student Design and Experiential Learning Center (SDELC). The SDELC, housed in the Kummer Student Design Center, provides teams with computer design laboratories, a manufacturing shop, office space and logistical support. Design teams mirror small start-up companies that plan large-scale projects, organize into departments, raise funds, communicate their ideas and solve open-ended design challenges. Almost every team competes annually at an event against other collegiate teams from around the country and the world. For more information about the teams, visit design.mst.edu.