To help raise funds for the team’s upcoming trip to Germany the team spent the morning of May 5th out on the side of Highway 2 cleaning up the garbage that accumulates over the winter. Although it rained, the team finished the 20 km stretch just after noon and headed back to the University for a Barbecue. Of course, work was not finished for the day. To celebrate a successful fundraising event we headed to the shop and went back to work on the car.

One of our very own mechanical engineering professors has received the 2012 SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. This award is given to professors that go above and beyond to help their students learn both in and out of the classroom. Dr. Mertiny has definitely done his fair share of helping out our team over the years. He was instrumental in building the composite half-shafts that were used in 2009 and 2010 and he has helped so much with this year’s carbon fibre chassis. In addition to helping us out Dr. Mertiny contributes much of his time to other student groups involved with U of A Engineering.

In the classroom he shows passion for teaching and will provide good honest feedback, criticism and assistance to all of his students. His research is focused in the U of A’s Advanced Composites Engineering Group and is related to the mechanical behaviour and long term durability and reliability of advanced materials.

Congratulate him next time you see him on campus!

The parts for the 2012 build are really starting to come in. If you have been following us on Twitter (@UAlbertaFSAE) then you have seen all of these sponsored parts coming in. We have a few companies that we need to thank:

-          Horizon Machine for machining our Hubs

-          Acorn Welding for sponsoring some tubing

-          Royal Purple for synthetic oil and some merchandise

-          Duratec for Mold Surfacing primers

-          Bartel Machine for assorted machine parts

-          Art Attack for machining our chassis molds and nose cone

-          Encore Metals for the brake rotor material

-          Bob Hartunian for his advice on manufacturing composites

-          Mark Burggren from Red Deer College and his help and contacts

-          The Advanced Composite Materials Engineering Group at the U of A  and Dr. Mertiny

We also have to give a huge thank you to the Joseph Beggs Foundation who has again sponsored our team at the gold level. JBF is a not for profit corporation that focuses on improving safety and efficiency in vehicle systems.

We also need to thank Shell and the Shell Enhanced Learning Fund for their contribution towards getting our team to Germany.

Again, thank you everyone.

On January 13th to 15th we had the 2011 car on display at the Edmonton Motorcycle show. There was a ton of interest in the car and even though it is not technically a motorcycle, the CBR 600 engine seemed to be enough justification for everyone that it should be on display at the show.  Thank you to the organizers of the Edmonton Motorcycle Show for giving us the booth free of charge. We hope to see everyone again next year!

During the same weekend, the U of A’s Engineering Students Society held their annual Geer Week Technical Displays at the Telus World of Science. We brought our 2010 car to put on display to help promote the U of A and Engineering to kids who love to learn about science. A lot of kids had a ton of fun sitting in the car and pretending to be a pro driver. Who knows, maybe we inspired a few of them to consider going into engineering. Thank you to the ESS for hosting the event and inviting our team to attend.

Here are a few pictures from the Motorcycle Show.

It has been a long time coming but it is finally here. Some renders of the 2012 design to wet your appetite for U of A Formula Racing. We hope you like them Enjoy!

Congratulations  Dave on receiving the U of A’s Support Staff Award! It is awesome to see that you are being recognized for all of your hard work. Your input on design has helped so many of us over the years to better understand how to design parts for manufacturing.  We are looking forward to working with you this year!

See the full article about Dave at http://www.mece.engineering.ualberta.ca/en/NewsEvents/Mechanical%20Engineering%20News/2011/11/OutstandingMachinistTechnicianWinsSupportStaffRecognitionAward.aspx

It has been two weekends packed with design reviews and lots of discussion but we have finally narrowed in on how the 2012 vehicle’s systems will be working together and what the car is going to look like. Here is a preview of what is to come (pictures will be on their way).

Tires: Hoosier tires on 10 inch rims
Chassis: Carbon fiber monocoque
Engine: Yamaha WR 450F
Drivetrain: Chain drive to Drexler differential
Shifting: Pneumatic paddle shift
Cooling: Dual side mounted radiators
Seating position: reclined w/ 6point harness
Weight: really light!

Fun fact: This car is going to have more carbon fiber on it than any U of A Formula car has ever seen and will be the first time we complete a carbon fiber monocoque chassis.

Welcome to the new era of UAlberta FSAE!
Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter @UAlbertaFSAE

The FSAE Lincoln competition may be 8 months away, but we are already running tight deadlines. If we want to meet our goals this year of getting to the top and competing in Germany, then we need to make design deadlines. The first major design deadline is on October 21st; this will be our internal design review. In this review we will make sure that all the concepts that have been chosen will line up with the goals for the 2012 car and that all the systems are being designed to work together. Sleep is being missed and the intensity level in the office is ramping up. It’s going to be another awesome year!

We don’t want to reveal any design decisions just yet, but you can look forward to seeing the preliminary 2012 spec sheet released by the end of the month. Here is a clue though: last year’s weight was 450 pounds, this year’s goal is less than 320 pounds. Happy figuring. We welcome you to take guesses in the comments section as to what the major changes will be (some of the changes have been released in previous emails and posts).

Here is the view from our office window. “Crunch Time!”

Hundreds of people ranging from elementary school kids to long time U of A graduates showed up to check out the University of Alberta’s 2011 Engineering Expo. This event is a showcase of the best that the Faculty of Engineering has to offer. There were talks about groundbreaking research in nanotechnology and cryobiology, there were tours of the research labs and teaching facilities, and even interactive displays for kids to do some hands on learning. Amongst all the excitement we setup a massive booth showcasing our 2010 and 2011 vehicles. Kids loved to come check out the cars, and imagine themselves passing Micheal Schumacher on the last lap at Silverstone. High school students looking to come to the U of A were intrigued and parents had all sorts of questions about the project. Overall it was a fun day and great exposure for the team!

PS: We made it on the cover of this year’s Engineering Handbook

The start of  September marks recruitment season for Formula’s  new members and this year we have decided to do things a little differently. In the past new members would start by doing a workspace orientation and then some of the preliminary manufacturing tasks. We have found that this is tough for new members because… well because it is kinda boring and they do not have the chance to see the big picture of the project. For this year we are preparing special onboarding sessions just for our new members! These sessions will take place throughout the first four months of the school term.

If you are interested in the project, please come to the Annual General Meeting on September 28th at 5:00pm in ETLC 1-007, here you can sign up to our mailing list if you haven’t already. In this meeting we will be elaborating on our onboarding package, which you can download right here, and talking in detail about the current year.  Please read through it before the meeting and make note of any questions so that you can ask them at the meeting.

Remember: come out to the Annual General Meeting! It will be a great place to meet some of the team and learn more about the project and what is planned for the 2012 season.