While the team members have been busy getting ready for final exams, we have also done several valuable straight line tests at the Richmond Field Station. As the end of the semester approaches, we are looking forward to a productive month of testing before our competition (which will be held on June 25-28, 2008). In the meantime, feel free to check out the B21 Testing Gallery, which is being regularly updated with pictures from test days.

Our first full test day is scheduled for Monday, May 26 at Infineon Raceway.

In the weeks since our last news update, the team has taken a huge leap toward our ultimate goal of showing a competitive presence at the Formula SAE West 2008 competition. First, and most significantly, we have gone from a rolling chassis to a running car! There are still a few components that need to be finalized, and we are still working on engine tuning and improving drivability, but nevertheless the car is running. We hope to have our first real test run in the very near future.

In addition, the team has been working hard on some of the other aspects of the competition, notably the Cost Report and Design Report. The 200-page Cost Report, detailing the cost and labor time of each and every component on the car, was mailed on April 1st after over a month's work of compilation and organization. The Design Report, which explains the engineering decisions made during the design of the car, is currently being finalized and will be sent out on April 15th. CAD images from the Design Report can be viewed in the B21 Design Gallery.

Cal Formula SAE has a rolling chassis! After the last few machining projects were completed and a few more components arrived in the mail, we finally bolted up the front and rear wheel packages and put the car on the ground. Our final composite panels are being bonded in, and we only have to put the finishing touches on a couple more subsystems. With our new engine also in the process of being tuned on the dyno, we are anticipating having a running car in the very near future!

The month of December began with a trip to the annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Orlando, Florida (courtesy of T&N Enterprises), giving a handful of team members the opportunity to thank current sponsors and reach out to new ones. It was great meeting all of our supporters in the motorsport industry, and we really appreciated the time that they took to speak with us. After returning, the team made another strong push during final exams period to wrap up the fall semester of 2007.

With two weeks of winter break remaining, the team was back to work, spending long days in the student machine shop on campus. In only a few short weeks, all of the machining for the 2008 car was completed, including all of the suspension brackets and brake rotors. The team would like extend a special thanks to General Grinding, whose work on the brake rotors helped to produce an outstanding final product.

Meanwhile, at the Richmond garage, final preparations were made on the motor before placing it on the dyno. With the motor completely rebuilt and the wiring complete, the team was able to test the components of the fuel injection system, which worked flawlessly. The final step was the construction of the header and muffler mounting, after which the entire system was ready for running on the dyno.

Finally, the composites team was working tirelessly in the Berkeley Composites Lab as production of the structural panels accelerated. Thanks to Scott McCormick, further testing on the panels also took place on the Instron machine in Hesse Hall, proving that the panels had more than enough strength to endure the stresses of suspension loading. The panels are now being bonded in, and the team can begin final assembly of the car before running in the near future.

November has seen even more progress being made on our 2008 car. We are taking full advantage of the oven at the Berkeley Composites Laboratory to make our structural carbon fiber components, including the floor, firewall, and structural side panels. We have mounted our differential from Taylor Race Engineering. In addition, assembly of the front suspension is underway, complete with brand new Penske shock absorbers. Finally, the wiring of the car is underway - a good sign that the car should be running shortly!

The construction of Cal's 2008 Formula SAE car is continuing at an unprecedented pace. Parts are rapidly arriving on our shelves. While ready-made parts, like our drivetrain system from Taylor Race Engineering, are rolling in at a steady rate, we are busy as ever manufacturing other components in-house, such as our fuel tank and intake system. In addition, we have been hard at work in the ergonomics department, laying out the dash and finalizing driver position in the completed frame.

Furthermore, we recently brought the 2007 car out for another drive in order to test out our newly installed data acquisition system, as we look to gain baseline data before shifting our development focus over to the 2008 car. This system includes shock potentiometers, an accelerometer, a steering position sensor, wheel speed senors and brake pressure sensors all sending data to our new MoTeC ADL. With this system, we can look at all parameters of the car, from engine health to handling characteristics, over an extended period of running. While this entire system will be transferred over to the new car once it begins running, these initial tests will help us immensely in gaining experience with the data and analysis, allowing us to make full use of our testing time with our 2008 competitor.

The team's hard work has paid off, as the major designs for the new 2008 car have been finalized. In addition, construction of the new chassis is very nearly complete, thanks to the dedication and effort of our new members. The team would also like to thank CenterLine Precision for CNC-bending our roll hoops and bulkheads, which expedited the frame build considerably.

The team is also happy to announce Professor Hari Dharan as a new faculty advisor. Professor Dharan has many years of experience in industry and as a teacher, giving him a great deal of practical and theoretical knowledge of the design and manufacture of composite materials. He has graciously permitted us access to the Berkeley Composites Laboratory, located directly across from our garage at the Richmond Field Station. We are very excited to be working with Professor Dharan and the Composites Lab, and look forward to putting his experience and facilities to good use in the near future.

Lastly, the team paid a visit to Ted and Nancy James with the new members. Ted and Nancy gave the new members a tour of their work area, and did a great job of showing what true racecar engineering is like.

Cal FSAE team opens its doors to students and hits the road for sponsor events!

After months of non-stop work, the Berkeley FSAE team took some time off to present our progress to eager students and faithful sponsors. A group of high-school students taking a survey course in engineering and sciences at UC Berkeley, taught by ME grad student Stephanie Robinson, came by the garage for a tour and car demo. The students observed the various sub-assemblies within the car and were impressed by the benefits of higher education. The visit was capped off with a short demo, which eventually resulted in Ms. Robinson hopping in the car for a couple of laps.

The next major event was a visit to the facilities of lead sponsor KLA-Tencor in Milpitas, California for their annual University Relations Day. This event was a great opportunity for the team to present the 2007 car to KLA-Tencor’s enthusiastic employees and executives. Furthermore, a short presentation given by Cal Relations Leader Tim Campos highlighted the parallels between the FSAE project and industry work. The team was also given a rare factory tour, which was an eye-opening experience for all who attended.

The team was also present at last weekend’s Indy Racing League event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. A booth in the paddock allowed us to show off our 2007 car, which promoted the team at Berkeley, along with the sponsors who make the project possible. We would like to send a special thanks to the Southard Motorsports Daytona Prototype Team, whose hospitality and feedback was greatly appreciated. Watching the Daytona Prototype race from their pit stall was an amazing experience that none of us will soon forget.

Finally, the team has been hard at work recruiting incoming freshmen in an effort to expand the work force for the 2007-2008 school year. The enthusiasm of the new students was clear to see, proving that the future is bright for the FSAE team at Berkeley.

Check out our gallery for photos from all three events!

It's been a busy time for the team since we got back to Berkeley from the Formula SAE West competition. After the team regrouped, it was time to get the ball rolling so plans could materialize and the next car could begin construction.

The team began by completely renovating the garage area. All of the machines were moved into a side room, which had previously been used for storage, to create a complete machine shop. In the main garage area, two clean rooms were built: one for composites work and one for the engine team. The remaining area was divided up into an area for final assembly of the new car, a maintenance area for the running car, and an office with computer workstations. The team would like to offer a special thanks to Swisstrax for supplying us with flooring tiles, which helped add the finishing touch to the renovated garage.

More pictures of our new garage can be found here.

Final results of the Formula SAE West 2007 competition can be found here.

The event was a great opportunity for the team to learn a lot about ourselves, our colleagues, and the high level competition.  We all learned that we need to focus our efforts even more for next year and plan things out in a more consistent fashion. Seeing our turbo derived problems we are planning to transfer to a much lighter and simpler car. We plan on using a single cylinder engine which is about half the weight of our current 4 cylinder engine, but also less powerful. All overly complex systems will be eliminated or simplified in a quest to reduce weight. After a week break, we will have a team debrief and begin planning the next car with renewed vigor, excitement and motivation.

Our faculty advisor at the event Mick Franssen really gave us all a needed boost emotionally and nutritionally at tough points throughout the weekend. His advice and expertise helped us bring a very good second year car. We'd also like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to Ted and Nancy James who have provided so much support, from the building of the car to providing their trailer as a base of operations down in Fontana. Without them, there would be no Cal Formula SAE.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors and partners for their gracious help, without you we wouldn't have this fantastic opportunity to become better engineers and competitors. We hope you will all continue to support Cal FSAE, so you can see the growth we have and will make.

KLA-Tencor and Cal Formula SAE are pleased to announce a long-term partnership. KLA-Tencor becomes the team’s official primary sponsor. KLA-Tencor Corporation is the world's leading supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The team is very excited to be working with such a fantastic company that is taking an active interest in helping the team develop and push towards developing a top level car.

The team has been very active in testing the 2007 car before competition in June. There is an extensive test program that should allow the team to refine the car and get as much performance and reliability out of the car as possible.

Cal Day was a big success for the Cal FSAE team. It was a day where incoming freshman and their parents could come check out the campus and all the clubs and organizations. Of course, Cal FSAE made an appearance and attracted several new recruits for next year. We even helped convince several students to choose Cal simply because we have a great Formula SAE team. We were able to show off the new car that is undergoing a thorough testing program.

A new tool the team will be using is the Motec ADL data logging system for testing. This will allow the team to collect valuable information to make optimizations to the car.

Also the design of the next car is well under way and is progressing as the team hoped for. Stay tuned for updates!

We’re pleased to let you know the wait is over and we can finally tell you the Cal Formula SAE team’s 2007 challenger is running. Today the car underwent its first shakedown. The program primarily focused on engine development and tuning.

From here on, the team will be focused on tuning and optimizing the 2007 challenger while simultaneously beginning designing the next car.