LOBOmotorsports Formula SAE Team at University of New Mexico

Formula SAE at UNM started in 1997 and is now in its 28th year. The program, run by Dr. John Russell of the UNM Department of Mechanical Engineering, revolves around a group of driven and talented students designing, building, and testing a formula style electric race car every year. The program is now a 3-semester course load that begins in the Spring of each year and is offered as one of the senior-design projects available for Mechanical Engineers to fulfill their graduation requirements.

The team is usually comprised of around 35 Mechanical Engineering and 10 ECE and Computer Science students, though students from other disciplines who share a common interest in racecar design have joined in the past. The team divides into smaller sub-teams to focus on designing and building a specific system on the car, such as Chassis, Suspension and Steering, Brakes, Aerodynamics, Powertrain, and Data Acquisition.

In the spring semester, students take ME406L, where they learn about racecar design and begin to set design parameters for their car. Over the summer, most of the computer design and calculations are done, so the team is prepared to present their design for build approval at the beginning of the fall semester in ME407. The car is fabricated during this fall semester, over winter break, and into the beginning of the spring semester with some parts being made in house and others requiring the help of more experienced machinists.

The following spring, students take ME408, where the vehicle is tested and data is collected for verification and validation, in preparation for competition in June. The Formula SAE competition itself is the world's largest collegiate design series with over 500 teams competing in it globally. Over the course of five days, the car is put through various technical inspections, to ensure rules compliance and safety, and multiple dynamic events to test vehicle performance. Concurrently, the team is also judged on their overall design and business practices.

The assistance of PCBWay would be invaluable to our project. With your company's support to efficiently manufacture high-quality parts for our car, the team would be given the opportunity to showcase their hard work and effort on an international stage, promoting the talent of New Mexico engineering.