丹尼尔·威尔逊

2024年6月5日

With grease under their fingernails and determination on their faces, some 萨克拉门托 State students spend hundreds of hours each year in a space more like a garage than a classroom, as they design, build, test and tweak the University’s Formula 1-style race car, preparing it for annual competition.

The most recent test for 大黄蜂比赛, a student-run club in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), was a competition May 8-11 against more than 100 colleges and universities from around the world at 美国密西根州方程式.

大黄蜂比赛 (HR) placed 40^th out of 108 teams at the competition, a dramatic advance of 51 spots over its 2023 finish and sixth among 10 California teams. 一年一度的比赛在密歇根州布鲁克林的密歇根国际赛车场举行。

“I'm super proud of the team,” said club president Jason Tran, a Mechanical Engineering major on track to graduate next spring. “We came back strong, and we finished all of our events.”

Competition organizer SAE International says, “Formula SAE competitions challenge teams of university undergraduate and graduate students to conceive, design, fabricate, develop and compete with small, formula-style vehicles.” 参赛队伍必须获得每个项目的参赛资格，其中包括加速、汽车越野赛和耐力赛。 囊状态 placed 30^th out of 49 teams in the latter.

Tran, who joined HR in 2020, said the team’s performance marked a return to form following setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had two or three members in 2020, and they really kept the club alive,” said Tran, one of 20 active members. “There was definitely no competition, in-person at least. It was weird to be on Zoom and (explaining) our designs to the judges.”

大黄蜂赛车始于1995年，对所有学生开放。 大多数成员都是工程专业的，但人力资源副总裁尼科·普费弗（Nico Pfeifer）说，加入成熟的大学赛车队的机会也存在于对金融、商业和营销感兴趣的学生中。

“Almost everyone that joins this club is interested in cars,” said Pfeifer, a second-year Electrical Engineering major. “Even if they’re not, they’re almost always willing to learn.”

该项目和一些费用主要由学院资助，但该团队也通过活动、捐款和赞助商的支持筹集资金，赞助商包括Underground Construction、Jon Manji、SAE等。 按照赛车传统，赞助商会自豪地展示在被称为HR22的车体上。

“HR and other ECS clubs are a great opportunity for students who may not know much about some of these fields to learn more and get more involved,” ECS Dean Kevan Shafizadeh said. “They extend classroom learning by providing hands-on experiences, fostering creativity and enhancing critical thinking skills.”

车队参赛前，赛车需要通过无数的检查和安全检查。 HR22乘坐时距离地面约3英寸，最高时速约65英里，包括两个发动机关闭开关和一个安全带，驾驶员必须能够在紧急情况下在五秒钟内离开汽车。

萨克州立大学机械工程专业的教师顾问克里斯托弗·萨瓦里诺说，完成比赛的步骤是一项重大成就。 These include developing financing – the $2,750 entry fee, travel and accommodations costs – and passing the competition’s tests.

“A lot of teams don't get past the first couple of stages,” Savarino said. “So, even just being able to get through and do them all and do (the endurance race) is a big accomplishment.”

该团队在秋季学期使用计算机软件设计汽车，然后将设计发送给一家加拿大公司，由该公司制造车架。 焊接和车辆组装在春季进行，使用三菱捐赠的碳纤维车身材料。 机械部件，如本田摩托车发动机，在每一款车型中都被重复使用，今年的价值为18,077美元。 必要时提供新零件。

The goal of the car’s design is to improve competition event times. HR22 weighs about 465 pounds, about 24 pounds lighter than last year’s vehicle – a significant improvement.

“Every pound is basically a second taken off your car when driving endurance,” Tran said.

四名车手之一、机械工程专业三年级学生马修·佩纳（Matthew Pena）说，车手需要对所有事情都了解一点，这样他们才能向车队提供反馈。

“Driving it is very fun, but it’s also very difficult,” said Pena, a racing hobbyist who plans to study medicine. “There's a lot of intuition that goes into it, and a lot of practice and muscle memory.”

Pfeifer说，每个车队需要至少有三名司机，这样司机就可以轮流驾驶。 既保证了公平性，又避免了司机的倦怠。

“It’s just about safety,” said the team’s tech director, Skyler Lund, a third-year Mechanical Engineering major. “Three of the events happen in one day, so you don’t want drivers getting too tired and driving off the track.”

萨瓦里诺说他为球队感到骄傲。

“It’s just kind of awe-inspiring with how much dedication and time and effort is put into it,” said Savarino, who has advised the team for two semesters and whose son recently joined the team. “They’re learning so much, getting so many hands-on skills and just real-world problem solving.”

萨瓦里诺说，对学生来说，其他好处包括与项目校友建立网络和联系，他们经常帮助人力资源团队成员找到工作，学习理想的工作技能，以及团队合作的友情和经验。

前人力资源人员、2020年机械工程专业毕业生格雷森·布朗（Grayson Browne）在专业赛车公司普拉特·米勒（Pratt Miller）工作，他可以证明这些好处。

“It provided a great opportunity to get some hands-on experience and practical knowledge,” Browne said. “I would not have gotten a job in motorsports without the time I had spent with the team.”

对于那些可能想要参与其中的学生，Tran提供了一些建议。

“Don’t worry about your skill level, just come and participate,” he said. “Everyone starts somewhere. Just come and be prepared to participate and try to learn.”