[EricH]

Originally Posted by emekablue

I'm 99% sure they have a Formula SAE team and it sounds like something cool to do. Why do you want to join a SAE team?

Speaking as someone who spent his entire college career in SAE Aero Design (Formula does it all wrong--their wings are supposed to be convex up, not convex down! ), it's a lot like an FRC team, but it's a completely different challenge. For example, composites are used a lot in SAE events--not so much in FRC.

The other factor is that it's a great place to apply the stuff you learn in the classroom, sometimes a matter of days after you learn it. And without that application, you might design a perfect X that you later learn is impossible to build because you're running out of bolt tighteners, or something like that.

SAE Collegiate Design Series competitions include Formula SAE, Baja SAE, Supermileage, Clean Snowmobile, and SAE Aero Design. Formula goes fast, Baja handles rough terrain, Supermileage goes far, Clean Snowmobile handles snow without harming the environment, and Aero Design lifts a lot of mass while flying.