Our Mission:
WWU Racing provides students the opportunity to develop as professionals. Students achieve this through taking on challenging projects, collaborating, problem solving, and then critiquing, analyzing,
and reflecting on their work. Being involved in this work cycle gives students the tools which allow them to be more professional, well-rounded, and marketable employees. WWU Racing strives to foster an environment where they can help build the best product possible: the students.
Who We Are/What We Do:
WWU Racing is a team of students with varying majors and skillsets passionate about furthering their knowledge by developing a formula style race car. WWU Racing aims to build a car every academic year and compete with it at FSAE California held in Fontana, CA at Auto Club Speedway (see Competition section for more information). Engineers design, manufacture and test the car while the business team focuses on acquiring donations, sponsors and participating in community events to share the team's mission and work with others. To ensure reliability, competitiveness, and safety, engineers use data driven justification for all design choices. Being a part of WWU Racing provides team members with acumen to carry on to their respective careers.
Engineers learn hand fabrication, machining, CAD systems designing, simulations, and data analysis which helps to optimize our car. The business team learns and practices budgeting, management skills, marketing, and PR skills that transfer to any business environment. All members both engineering and business learn the importance of goal setting, time management and communication. The team works cohesively and holds each member accountable for their work, building dependability that is highly sought after in young professionals. WWU Racing proudly produces the vast majority of their components in house. Although time consuming, developing parts in house saves time and allows the team to gain an in depth understanding of the manufacturing process. Learning hand fabrication and machining skills are what the team's engineers will immediately use in the professional world.
Competition:
The Society of Automotive Engineers hosts a competition known as Formula SAE (FSAE) which is part of SAE's Collegiate Design Series (CDS). The series was designed to help students graduate with greater vehicle design knowledge and has been held for over 40 years. Western Washington University was one of the first few schools to participate in the series upon its inception. Multiple FSAE competition are held each year internationally, allowing students to test their engineering and business expertise. SAE provides safety and design rules that every team must follow. Although constraining, these rules still allow for innovative vehicle engineering and design.
FSAE cars are raced in autocross fashion primarily, requiring cars to possess excellent handling, braking and acceleration capabilities. The car is built and judged as a possible production prototype, so it must be built with performance, reliability, accessibility and affordability in mind. Therefore, engineers must choose materials that are durable yet cheap to source and design the car for longevity and ease of maintenance.
Donation Usage:
Donations to the team are used to push design boundaries and take on new, ambitious projects. Some examples of projects conducted for Viking 62 this year was a redesigned Viking 61 aerodynamics package, fully stressed CRB600RR engine, revised driver seating position, fully redesigned corner packages switching to 10" wheels from 13", and electronic throttle body and actuation. Money that is raised help us to push our boundaries in design and all other phases of our year, including manufacturing, testing, and competing. All choices made by WWU Racing during are viewed from a cost-to-benefit ratio, based on the learning experiences that each project provides to students.
How Your Donation Helps:
While WWU Racing is an on campus club, it is run like a startup engineering company. The team must raise all their own funds to not only build a race car but to also help build the team and the amount of physical assets we have at our disposal. These funds come from local sponsors, community outreach, events, donations, grants, and from within Western Washington University. Every dollar that is given to the team goes directly to allowing a student to build a part of the car or the team, better preparing them for the real world. Each member of the team will use this money to get real word experience in a safe and nurturing space that allows them to push their own limits without fear of consequence.
