This is the program’s sixth national championship. They previously won in 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
If that gave them confidence they had become the favorites, then the championship was all but solidified when the team also unexpectedly claimed the top spot in the fuel efficiency category.
Finishing first in the endurance and fuel efficiency categories, second in engineering design and third in autocross, the combined results gave the Aggies the overall championship with a combined 915 of a possible 1000 total points. The Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of Kansas came in second and third respectively.
According to course lecturer and team advisor Yuval Doron, the students invested more than 72,000 man-hours over the course of nine months. They started in September with concept development before finishing with a highly-engineered race car.
“I am always amazed at the level of engineering that goes into the design development, fabrication and testing,” Doron said. “This is a high-caliber event that demands tremendous focus and sacrifice from the students, and they manage to pull through every year, this year being extra special.”
For students looking to get into automotive engineering, Formula SAE has been a successful stepping stone. Monheim and two of his teammates have accepted jobs at General Motors in Detroit, which also was the team’s largest sponsor this year. Several other students on the team have also accepted jobs in the auto industry.
This is the program’s sixth national championship. They previously won in 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. This year’s car was unveiled at the Texas A&M house during the South by Southwest festival in Austin.
###
This story by Aubrey Bloom originally appeared on the College of Engineering website.