Wayne State students are working overtime with Formula SAE

The RW12 team members (from left to right) are Eduardo Ochoa, Collin Gillespie, Alex Kraft, Zahra'a Hussain, Michael Weber, Matthew Stephens, Conor Hughes, Jae Park, Evan Jaworowicz, Noah Weller, Noah Beattie, Mansi Mehta, Harkirat Matharu, James Kaiser, Moti Ghimire (in car). Photos by Josh Welton

A group of dedicated students at Detroit’s Wayne State University have continued a fun Formula SAE (FSAE) legacy that their predecessors started in 2003, when they began to plan their build of a small race car for the international automotive design competition series. It might sound funny to think of what would seemingly be a racing league as a “design competition,” but that’s exactly what it is.

The concept is that each school’s FSAE crew is to think of themselves as a team that is battling for a contract to build a small Formula-like race car. They create a prototype and are then judged on a host of factors, both static (like cost and manufacturing analysis) and dynamic (such as acceleration and fuel economy).

My wife Darla and I live near the Wayne State University campus, and one day while driving by their athletic field’s parking lot we noticed a group of college kids on the asphalt playing with a single-seat open-wheel car. That’s something that will grab your attention! We parked along Warren Avenue to investigate more closely.

Orange cones marked out a makeshift autocross course as the Warrior Racing team tested and tweaked Road Warrior 12 (RW12), their latest scratch build. It’s powered by a 4-cylinder engine out of a 2011 Honda CBR600, which made 100+ HP stock but has been modified by the team in their engine building room and tuned in their dyno lab. As we walked up to the dozen or so students gathered near a small canopy that loomed over RW12, Darla struck up a conversation with one of the students.

Zahra’a Hussain is the business director for Warrior Racing. She’s a senior computer science engineering major and is also employed at ZF North America Inc. On top of her studies and her work, she puts in at least four hours a day for the racing team. She was excited to fill us in on what exactly they were doing, from the track, to the shop, and beyond. And that’s a theme with her teammates as a group and as individuals; they are passionate about their Warrior Racing team.

On this day they were getting newer members some seat time in the RW12, which happens only if they’ve proven they take this “job” seriously. Driving the car is a reward for being on the team for a full year. Collin Gillespie, president of Warrior Racing and a mechanical engineering student, talked about this process:

“We have 25 team members and expect to grow once September rolls around when we do a lot of recruiting. We try to recruit as many people as possible, but there is a candidacy process. They spend a couple of months learning CAD and trying out all of the fabrication machines before they can become official members.”

Fabrication machines. Now we’re talking! While the rest of the crew was busy helping the newbies get acclimated to the car, Hussain shuttled us over to the WSU engineering building where they actually build the car.

“People come from all different skills and backgrounds. They might know a lot or nothing at all,” she explained.

A bunch of laptops running CAD programs, walls decorated with blueprints, team photos, awards, and charts filled the room that we entered. Hussain laughed and said, “Excuse the mess, but this is our office!”

One of the most impressive parts of the FSAE crew is the fact that team members teach each other how to weld. Know-how is passed down from one generation of students to the next.

There is also a small team cafe that helps to fund some of their project. We passed through a doorway and into a cramped lab behind it. Two of the more senior team members were doing some machine work on an old-school Bridgeport.

An extensive amount of welding goes into these builds. The chassis is fabricated from chromoly tubing, as are suspension components. Aluminum housings, tanks, and plenums and stainless steel headers also are welded in their fabrication shop space. It’s not a huge space, but they make do.

Tools and various brand-name machines are from supporters who at one time or another made a donation to the team. An older Miller Synchrowave 250 sits in one corner next to a table and a row of tubing with filler metals, and it’s complemented by a small Lincoln Invertec. There’s also a little CNC cutting table partitioned off near the welding power sources. The Bridgeport is at the front of the room, and various tables, saws, stands, fixtures, and prototypes are strewn about. The noses from previous RW cars are hung on one wall like big-game trophies. Crammed near a second set of doors stood a little Tennsmith press brake and an Emco lathe.

The welding done on the cars is pretty good, so I asked where they received their training. It turns out that the members teach each other! So the know-how is handed down from one “generation” to the next; this year’s welders will pass on their knowledge and skills to students fresh to the program. Very impressive.

I told them if they ever want a class or two to take their TIG skills to the next level, I’m available. As it turns out, they loved the idea. I’m stoked to maybe play just a small part in the team’s future.

While most of the team members are in the school’s engineering program, it’s also a killer way for marketing and business majors to accrue some experience in their fields. As Warrior Racing attempts to grow, they’re hoping to appeal to some of the nonengineering students to help with balancing finances and expanding their reach into the real world, which seems to be a solid plan. Their Formula SAE program has a great reputation, and no matter the professional sector one of its alumni chooses, potential employers hold their hands-on experience in high esteem.

After touring their engine build room and their engine dyno, we headed back to the “course.” I wanted to get pics of the team, and of my SRT Challenger Demon next to the race car. According to Hussain, RW12 will go 0-60 in 4.3 seconds and tops out at 120! I didn’t get to drive it, but that might be a future adventure. As would a race—my Demon versus their RW12. Let’s make it happen!

The RW12 will go from 0 to 60 MPH in 4.3 seconds, and its speed tops out at 120 MPH!