facebook.com/SpartanRacingSJSU @Spartan_Racing

Marjo Mallari, Ross Fraser, Simone Getty Robby Sampson, Matt Mohr, Manuel Mangrobang

sae.sjsu@gmail.com Volume 4 | Issue 8

n February 24th, Vince Donatini, Simone Getty, Tanya Krueger, and Natallia LoCicero were honored to

attend the Engineers Week Banquet. It is a banquet held every year by the Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC) at the end of Engineers Week. At the banquet members of the SVEC distribute awards to SVEC Engineering Week Hall of Fame Inductees (the “best of the best” in their engineering profession). Scholarships are also awarded to the future of engineering, including students pursuing a degree in engineering or engineering related subjects. So what were we doing there? Well, for the past few years Spartan Racing has had the opportunity to

“table” the event and attend the banquet at a sponsored table. This year we were fortunate enough to have a table sponsored by SAE NorCal. We would like to thank Spartan Racing alumni, Ruben Delgadillo for inviting us to sit at the SAE NorCal table and the opportunity to rub elbows with the top engineers of today. While tabling we ran into the Formula Hybrid teams from UC Davis and Santa Clara University. As always, everyone at the event was extremely interested in the Spartan Racing team’s projects. We had the opportunity to talk to many engineers and other industry professionals about the vehicles. It was definitely a successful event and a great opportunity for everyone to practice their networking skills. It wasn’t until the event started that Vince realized he had been talking to the CEO of Netgear for half and hour while tabling. Simone also realized that the extremely interesting high school senior she was trying to recruit to the team was one of the big scholarship recipients of the night. Let’s cross our fingers she chooses San Jose State. The Keynote Speaker was Patrick Lo, Chairman and CEO of Netgear. We spotted Steve Wazniak of Apple, but were unable to get a picture with him. Fortunately

Dean Wei promised to invite him to SJSU to speak. Hopefully that will be our next photo opportunity.

Simone Getty

very semester the College of Engineering has a student engineering organization fair. Of course Spartan Racing attended the event. It was a great way for members of the team to meet members of other engineering organizations. One of the coolest new clubs we discovered was

the SJSU RoboSub Team. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a robot submarine building competition. We were able to mingle with members of the Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge teams as well. We

definitely foresee a Spartan Racing sponsored BBQ with our new friends in the future.

O

E

his semester, for the first time, we were invited to speak to SJSU’s Engineering 10 Class. It is an introduction to engineering class that all engineering underclassmen take. Simone Getty and Vince Donatini gave the presentation. Simone Getty is the Team Captain for the Formula Team

and Vince Donatini, a freshman who took the Engineering 10 class last semester, is her “mini”. We are all extremely proud of the work Vince has been doing and the growth he has made as the prospective future leader of the Formula Team. This event was not only a successful recruitment event and interest generator (one of the professors had no idea “how great the team was doing competitively”), it was also a great way to see the energizing chemistry of Vince and Simone in action promoting the team. This is the first, but definitely not the last, time you will be hearing of this duo!

ichael Bell and Toan Tran were given the opportunity to go to Cisco Sytems on February 13th to

talk to hundreds of high school students about the excitement of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math). It was part of an all day event that Cisco hosted. Spartan Racing was honored that Cisco invited them to the event. Dustin Decker, Manuel Mangrobang, Ross Fraser, Simone Getty, and Brian McKay went for moral support, but Cisco surprised us by having Ross, Simone, and Brian go up on stage as well. Toan and Michael did an excellent job of delivering the presentation. Afterward the students were given the opportunity to ask the

team questions. As always the team was asked numerous questions about the car, “How fast does it go?” “Can I drive it?” One question was directed at a specific team member, Formula Team Captain, Simone.

One girl asked what it was like being one of the only girls on the team and in engineering in general. Simone responded, “I don’t really think about it. I suppose that’s how I’ve gotten this far. I have yet to hit a roadblock because of my gender. I truly believe I can do anything I want and you should too.” Another moment that

was particularly memorable was when Ross, Marketing and Communication Lead, illustrated how important Spartan Racing has been to continuing his education; “This is my second time back at school…Spartan Racing has taught me how enjoyable getting an education can be”. Although we were surprised that we could keep so many high school students quiet for such a length of time, we were excited that our team was able to engage these individuals with a topic that could be very important to their futures. We know that our focus is on student success and events like this give us the opportunity to do just that by inspiring the engineers

of tomorrow.

M

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t’s crunch time for the Spartan Racing Formula Team. We have made incredible progress the past month, but still have a ways to go before competition. However, with renewed vigor and a

little break from classes due to Spring Break, we can really get a lot done. We recently completed all the welding on the frame and finished the structural and stiffness tests and have been able to qualitatively prove that the floor panels do indeed increase the overall stiffness of the frame, just as we were hoping.

On the suspension side, nearly all of the outboard wheel package components have been machined and the tires have been mounted. We should have a rolling chassis very

soon. Additionally, the steering system is well under way and the front and rear anti-roll bar systems are being fabricated. This past week we received the major parts for the brake system, including the master cylinders, balance bar, and calipers. We will be installing these once the final brake components have been completed. Continuing the momentum from February, the Powertrain Team has been busy installing systems on the car all month. So far, the fuel, oil, cooling, and exhaust systems have been completely assembled and tested. Additionally, the throttle assembly and most of the intake system has been completed. We are currently machining the major pieces of the final drive system, and will begin assembling components this week. It may seem we are out of the woods but we are still pushing hard to be ready for our official unveiling on April 20, at Club Auto Sport and we hope to see all of you there!

form

ulau

pdat

e

I Robby Sampson

any of our

team

members are

slowly acquiring jobs

or internships so that

we can further

expand our career

opportunities after

college. This means

that team activities

have slowed and

developmental work

on our designs is now at a snail’s pace. But not all is

lost. The Formula Team has had the same problem and

a couple of our members

decided to help out.

Marshall Mendoza, the

Formula Electrical Team

Lead, has new

responsibilities at Tesla Motors and

wasn’t able to finish building the

wiring harness for SR-4. We sent

over Raakesh Bhat and Steve

Davis to help the Formula Team.

It’s nice to find opportunities when

vehicles teams can help each other

out.

elec

tric

upda

te

M

Manuel Mangrobang

his past month the Baja

Team battled the

weather as we continue

to build at SAE President

Dustin Decker's house in

Campbell. Plagued with

bad welds and cold weather,

progress on the Baja has

been slower than expected.

Much of the lost time will be

made up over Spring Break. For the

good news, this past week Ramsey

Products has agreed to continue their

sponsorship and cut the gears for our

gearbox free of charge. Mass

Precision, another of our sponsors, has

also agreed to help by cutting the

gearbox housing for the team. Despite

our slow progress, the Baja team

pushes on and is looking forward to

another exciting competition.

Matt Mohr

baja

upda

te

T

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