A Snapshot Of Success – How Student Initiated Automotive Design Became Integrated Into The Me And Met Curricula

A fascinating relationship has evolved within our Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department. Three years ago, students initiated the formation of a campus motor-sports club and formed an SAE chapter to pursue participation in the Formula SAE race series. Over the brief period since club inception, the activities of this group have transitioned into core elements of upper-division ME and MET coursework. The club has retained a significant portion of required fund-raising, as well as the responsibility for dictating vehicle specifications. The core of the student club-to-coursework relationship occurs in the interdisciplinary (ME and MET) Capstone Design course. Club-sponsored automotive design and build projects are treated essentially as any other industry-sponsored project, with the twist that they are funded primarily by students who are primarily enrolled in either the ME or MET curriculum. Many of the students fill dual roles: That is, they help define the projects in their role as club members and are then enlisted by course instructors to design/build/test the components as members of the design teams working, resulting in a course grade. This scenario has resulted in a level of student involvement in – and enthusiasm for – the engineering education process that has rarely been seen before at this university. Students are absolutely engaged in a broad spectrum of their education: They define the project, specify technical elements, raise money for materials & purchased components, design, fabricate and test. Then as club members they race the vehicles produced for recreation and enjoyment. Initially the interactions between club and ME/MET courses occurred through the inter-disciplinary capstone design course, but this activity has grown to involve courses in advanced instrumentation, composite materials, tooling, advanced CAD, and other coursework. This paper describes the present state of our Formula SAE race car project, the interactions between the student SAE club and the ME/MET courses participating in the relationship, and the path taken to arrive here. Positive and negative aspects of the relationship between the student club and required coursework are examined, and some guidelines and recommendations for the future are shared. Montana State University Mechanical and Industrial Engineering The Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (M&IE) Department at Montana State University (MSU) is among the largest departments on the 12,000+ student campus. The 600+ student M&IE Department houses three ABET-accredited four-year undergraduate degree programs: Mechanical Engineering (ME), Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET), and Industrial Engineering (IE.) Each independent program has dedicated faculty with shared administration and office staff. Course sequencing is organized per individual program goals and accreditation requirements, with some cross-disciplinary offerings available as elective or required courses. P ge 13104.2 The launch of SAE Formula Racing at Montana State Engineering students at MSU have long been encouraged by faculty to investigate membership and participation in student chapters of professional organizations such as ASME. Membership in these organizations is and promoted in classes due to the wellknown benefits associated with membership, in addition to the opportunities for learning that become available to student members. However, the initial setup and management of student chapters of professional organizations at MSU had always been in the hands of faculty. That changed in 2003, when several Mechanical Engineering students interested in automotive applications and racing met independently to discuss their desire to design, build and race an SAE Formula car in the annual SAE competition. After some initial discussions, a small but enthusiastic core group of founding students approached this author with a request to act as mentor and faculty advisor for their newly-formed group. An agreement was reached to facilitate the founding of the club as advisor, but initially a hands-off approach to activities was taken while attempting to gage the likelihood of success of this group and to take time to investigate the setup of the SAE Formula Series competition. The group meanwhile registered with the university’s student activities office to achieve approval as a registered student club, and initial meetings commenced in the rented garage of one of the students. The group elected officers to provide some club organization and also worked to become familiar with the extensive rule book posted on the SAE website. One of the obvious first steps was to obtain funding for club activities: Fund-raising efforts were planned and students began to prepare flyers to distribute to local business. Cash was in very short supply when the College of Engineering at MSU stepped up with an agreement to provide a $20K startup package over a three-year “incubation” period, negating the need for extensive initial fund-raising. This step simplified first-year efforts and carried over through the following two years, providing essential resources to the effort. Flush with funds, the club members located and ordered a suitable Kawasaki 600cc engine and wiring harness from a Texas dismantler, and began working up a design for a car frame. Over the next several months as the student group attempted to make progress towards producing the first MSU SAE Formula car, several realities became apparent: 1. The group did not yet have the engineering skill-set or experience to design a competitive SAE formula car, 2. The group did not have the manufacturing expertise to fabricate high-quality parts, 3. Privately-owned tools and homeowner-quality shop equipment were insufficient to build what was designed, 4. Time demands on engineering students are great, and often take precedence over optional/recreational “club” activities. Due primarily to these issues, the first-year effort faltered and minimal results were achieved. P ge 13104.3 MIE Coursework connection It was clear to the faculty advisor and to the SAE club president that, despite the firstyear efforts falling short, a possible path to success could be found by incorporating the SAE Formula Car design and fabrication into engineering coursework. Specifically the introducing the SAE Formula Car topic into the required capstone course sequence in both the ME and MET programs was proposed. Upon a thorough review of course objectives and outcomes for both capstone courses and with consideration of ABET accreditation requirements, the idea was presented to the greater student group. The perceived advantages included: 1. Student Capstone Design groups responsible for various aspects of SAE Formula Car design would be equipped with the necessary engineering design and analysis training, via the pre-requisite coursework structure already present in the ME and MET curricula. 2. The engineering design activities would be performed for grade by those students involved, not as an extracurricular activity. 3. The design groups would be guided by experienced MIE department faculty, and their progress monitored. 4. Incorporating the project into senior capstone design courses would gain the groups full access to the department machining and welding facilities for fabrication of high-resolution components. It was recognized that there was a risk of alienating SAE club members who were underclassmen and not yet eligible to participate in Capstone design and fabrication efforts. It would be necessary to find activities for these underclassmen or they would become disenchanted and seek other activities. After much discussion, the SAE club officers agreed that the goal of producing a race car would likely succeed only by combining their goals with Capstone efforts, and that there were probably sufficient tasks that could hold the interest of younger club members until they too could participate as seniors. ME/MET Capstone Course Organization, Interdisciplinary Design Teams. The ME and MET capstone courses are each organized conventionally into a twosemester sequence. Each course is staffed by an instructor responsible for lectures and course organization. Both require student teams to apply a formal design process to solve open-ended engineering problems. Many projects are industry-sponsored, or sponsored by engineering faculty through their research projects. Faculty advisors are assigned from a pool of faculty members representing the appropriate program. The first semester subject matter emphasizes design process application, alternative creation and evaluation, analysis, and documentation culminating in a formal oral presentation. The second semester features prototyping and testing, culminating in a “Design Fair” exhibition of results. P ge 13104.4 In recent years, capstone course instructors from the two programs have collaborated to assign multi-disciplinary student teams to several appropriate projects. In the case the SAE project, the benefits expected from merging these two disciplines was very appealing: Combination of the more extensive analytical training of ME student participants with the applications and manufacturing focus of MET students seemed to increase the likelihood of project success, and in any case would more closely resemble the teaming approach favored by industry and recommended by the Department’s Industrial Advisory Board. The two programs, while closely related, produce students with notably different skill-sets. This is due both to the unique program coursework featured in each program, and to the aptitudes of students drawn to each program. Project teams theoretically are equipped to draw upon the strengths of both groups. This close relationship between ME and MET Capstone has usually resulted in projects beneficial to students, faculty and sponsors. However, many challenges are present. Some are primarily logistic in nature e.g. diffic