Nova Racing’s 15th-annual car reveal for the Formula SAE team took place on Tuesday, April 30. The event consisted of several speeches from important figures, such as the captain of the Formula SAE team, some of the student engineers and some of the sponsors. The Villanovan had the opportunity to speak with two important members of the team. They provided valuable information regarding Formula SAE and their goals for the upcoming competition.
“[The car is] for Nova Racing, which is the Formula SAE Team on Campus,” sophomore Marissa Zeuli said. “We build a new race car every year, and reveal it about a week before going to the competition.”
With regards to the design of the car, Zeuli said that they are trying to win this year.
“[We] went with a sleeker aesthetic for stability and making the car a lot faster and more aerodynamic in an attempt to win the competition this year.
“Our best place in individual events was two years ago, in which we got first in almost every single individual event, and got second overall, which was a huge achievement. Last year, we had a technical failure which cost us our placement, which is a shame.”
Nova Racing also aims to expand its reach across campus and increase in popularity, which it has already been doing.
“A lot of sponsors, faculty and other students came to the competition, and we’ve been promoting other students such as business students and liberal arts students to make it known that everyone is welcome on the team,” Zeuli said.
Halle Roberts expanded on this point.
“The biggest thing this year is we’re trying to really increase publicity,” Roberts said. “Our inspiration is like Hoops Mania, where it’s a huge deal and has such a well-known reputation on campus, so it would be nice to get that kind of market and publicity with our event. We want people to know what Formula SAE is. We have lots of posters and Instagram posts to try and get the word out there.”
Roberts explained the process behind the designing and manufacturing of the car.
“Obviously, it’s a huge team effort,” she said. “Not only does the car have to go fast, but there’s [a] case competition for Business Students. Not only is scoring highly important, but this is the biggest team we’ve had, and we want to also really enjoy building the car together, having such a big team [and] teach[ing] all the new freshmen the important knowledge.
“For the competition, we go to the Michigan international speedway to compete with other schools,” Roberts said of when and where the competition will take place. “We compete in Pittsburgh in the fall, as well.”
Last, Roberts was asked for her opinion on the current year’s car compared to the previous edition.
“I feel like I’m biased, but I of course think it’s better,” she said. “I would say that this one is my favorite. I’ve seen the car going from the frame to the drawings to the product. It’s very cool to see the behind-the-scenes entirety of the project.”
