For my practicum project, I worked with Terps Racing, a student organization that designs and builds race cars to compete in nationwide events. There are three sub-divisions, Formula, Formula Electric, and Baja. The Formula teams race Formula One style cars and the Baja team races an off-road vehicle. I was (and am) on the Baja team and was responsible for redesigning the brake system for this season's car, TR22. The site is located on campus in J.M. Patterson Hall in the Terps Racing shop and design studio.
I found out about Terps Racing during the spring 2021 semester when I was browsing online through the clubs and organizations. The name caught my attention, so I clicked on it and wanted to be a part of it ever since then. I joined the club during the spring 2021 semester but wasn't very involved since everything was on zoom and there was a 5-person limit in the shop. I really became involved during the fall 2021 semester, where everything was in person and there was no maximum capacity in the shop. Some advice I would give to future SGC students looking for a site is to send emails and follow up with the supervisors in a quick and respectful manner; the worst they can say is no.
During this project, I was tasked with redesigning the brake system for the 2022 vehicle. This required the use of SOLIDWORKS, which is a computer aided design program. I modeled parts and ran simulated stress calculations to determine if the parts would stand up to the simulated loads. This was particularly useful, because the rule book says that the brake pedal must withstand an input force of 450lb, which I used to set up the simulated calculations. In addition to improving my CAD skills, I learned how to use many machines in a machine shop, specifically a lathe, mill, and welder. Being introduced to these machines has greatly improved my knowledge about design. A part must be able to be manufactured to be a good part; knowing the limits of our machines is very important for the design process.
Through this project, I learned so much about engineering that isn't taught in classes, such as proper dimensioning, tolerancing, design for manufacturing, leadership skills, and most of all how to apply the theory we learn in classes to the real world. In addition, I saw firsthand that the best design is not always the first or easiest design. For example, when designing the brake pedal, I had several iterations that improved as the iterations went on. I learned from previous designs and adapted them to be better. The iterative design process is a valuable tool that is used in the real world and results in the best design given certain restraints. These were just some examples of things that can't be taught in class the same way they can be taught through hands-on experience.
Working on a car and in a machine shop is something that I have really enjoyed over the past year and is something I would love to continue to do in the future. I don't want a desk job. I want to use my hands and interact with what I am designing and creating.
This project has made me realize how engineering is such a broad field that can be seen anywhere in our daily lives. The walls of a room, the ventilation system in a building, and the light switches in a room are all things that we take for granted, however these are complex systems that function because of engineers and their work. A race car is a relatively small system compared to buildings and smart cities; this idea has forced me to appreciate the complexity and sheer size of these projects, which would not be possible without engineering and the conjunction of many, many smaller systems and teams working together to create something amazing.