Advice on Starting a New Team from Scratch

[spsier]

I am very motivated to start a new FSAE team at the University of Michigan - Flint. The U of M campuses in Ann Arbor and Dearborn have FSAE teams and I will be reaching out to them for advice. I do have a friend who ran an FSAE team at his university and have some good connections to the GM Performance Division which may be of some help.

But, forgetting all of that, beyond posting on forums and reaching out for advice, where do I begin? Has anyone ever setup a new team from nothing? I have searched on these forums, but most of the new team info I found were for teams that had already formed and were in their first year. This is just me trying to get this going with only a few loose "Yeah, I'd join that" commitments from about six students.

So far, I have been by the student life office and have the forms to fill out to start a new club. If the club is approved (which I have little doubt it won't be), I believe I will be able to announce to the entire student body I am trying to start an FSAE team and hopefully can recruit from there. I have probed around to a couple faculty members, but they didn't seem to understand what an FSAE team is and does (I'm new at the school, so I have few connections.)

I have also read over the "Organizing a Formula SAE Team" article on sae.org. While excellent info, there isn't much in the way of: Start Here from Nothing.

I am willing to put the time in to get his started. I know it will take a lot of effort for sponsorship, recruitment, and organization before we even start to build a car. All of this has me really excited.

So, with all that being said, where do I go from here?

Thank you in advance for your advice.
Scott

[Racer-X]

I have some indirect experience with starting a new team, mostly from teams coming to us for help.

I'd say securing a shop and some funds are your two biggest challenges as far as starting a team goes. Then you have the challenge of actually building something, which will take some truly dedicated people.

So I would say the first thing you need to do is hold some meetings to get some members and talk your adviser about a shop. Then you can start designing something while looking for money. Your first car will be a 2015 competitor if everything goes well.

[Z]

Originally posted by Racer-X:
I'd say securing a shop and some funds are your two biggest challenges as far as starting a team goes.
Scott,

I agree that a workshop and a small amount of cash are your first two priorities.

If your school offers you a broom cupboard, then take it, for now. Something about 20ft x 20ft, with a roof and four walls, plus some electricity, is enough to build a good FSAE car. Something 30ft square might be too big, because other people will want to "share" it with you.

Next get whatever cash you can find (ask Dad, but pay him back later!) and buy some simple tools. A workbench with vice and hand tools (hacksaw, files, drills, hammers, etc.) is the first step. Later you will need a drill-press and Tig welder (these are quite cheap nowadays). Lastly, a workshop lathe, and you can build almost anything.

VERY IMPORTANTLY (IMO), build a mock-up of the car as soon as you can. Call it an "ergonomic rig". Only hand tools, plywood, miscellaneous steel pipes, etc., are needed for this. Put posters up around your school inviting anyone interested to visit your workshop and see your "car". If you do this as the "Leader", then you will very quickly get lots of followers. People more willingly offer their help (and sponsors offer their $s), when they see real things happening.

Lastly, (actually right now http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif), read Geoff's (Big Bird's) thread on "Reasoning your way through the FSAE design process." (at top of page). I suggest you DO try to take a car to next year's 2014 competition. But DO NOT try to make it a fast car. Just try to build the simplest possible car that complies with the Rules and can travel about 20 miles at ~30mph, without breaking down. (Search this Forum, FSAE history, etc., for what constitutes a "simplest possible car".) Try to get a good "big picture" understanding of what is required in the competition first, then go looking for speed in later years.

Z

[Charles Kaneb]

One thing you absolutely need is supportive administration. You will be using power tools constantly. You will be using machine tools and welders regularly. If you cannot convince your school's safety officials that you will be able to operate to their standard, you're in deep trouble.

How long do you intend to participate? A "one and done" or "finished all the events in our first year as juniors, gonna go fast as seniors" team is of limited value to a university.

What previous automobile project experience do you guys have? Have you built an SAE Baja car yet?

How many firm "Come hell or high water" members do you have? If it's only 2 or 3, why not join Kettering University's FSAE team, also in Flint? Universities like consortiums. Case Western had 5, and that is the absolute bare minimum.

[spsier]

This is a lot of great information!! There are so many directions to go in.

I figured if we were able to start a team this year, a car wouldn't be ready (at least competition wise) until 2015.

Personally, I do have some experience building a race car, but little experience organizing the build.

The thought had never occurred to me to join another school's FSAE team (like Kettering.) While joining another team is definitely a last resort, I like the idea and challenge of building a new team for my school which will last long into the future and will help to attract students to the engineering program.

For those that have personally reached out and offered help, I plan to take couple of days to process all the information I receive. I will then likely reach out for further assistance.

Thank you.

[PatClarke]

Get the book 'Learn and Compete' from Racetech.com

Pat

[acedeuce802]

Have you been involved in anything FSAE related before? Such as, gone to competition? We (Kettering) are willing to help as we can, so if you want to check out what kind of shop space and tools/machines we have, PM me. Or, if you want technical advice, general advice, or whatever. But, if things don't turn out on your end, we are always looking for new help! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Will M]

[The following is only my opinion; I've never had to start a team so I can’t back it up.
Most of it comes from things I feel would have benefited my team]

You need an adviser and a purpose.

You didn’t say that you have an adviser so I will assume you don’t yet.
An adviser will have orders of magnitude more clout than you with the school admin and sponsors.
If you’re lucky there may be a professor at your Uni that participated in FSAE back when they were in school.
Otherwise look for someone that you get along with and can support a multiyear project.

You’ll need to talk with your adviser about what ‘flavor’ of team you want.

Some examples
Club Team: Have fun, get some hands on engineering
Capstone Team: Final year project, strong focus on project management (will likely need department head support)
Flagship Team: Publicity for the school, needs serious admin and sponsor support, in addition to helping undergrads get hands on experience the team might include long term graduate level research into things like aerodynamics and engine development [probably can’t start at this level http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif ]

(note: I made these up but they demonstrate that while all teams are in the same competition they may function differently and have very different goals )

Having decided that ‘flavor’ (i.e. what you want to do with the team) it will be easier to acquire admin and sponsor support, team members, and facilities.
Over time the team will evolve but starting out when people ask what the team does you’ll have a better answer than ‘we build racecars’.
What I’m trying to say is you need a purpose; starting a team for the sake of having a team is a bad idea.

Once you know the kind of team you want start drafting a team charter.
In it state the team’s purpose.
The purpose for a Club Team (ex. fun) and a Flagship Team (ex. aero simulation research) will be quite different.
This is important because the most difficult year for the team will not be its first competition.
It will be the year after the founding members leave.
I feel if you want to build a lasting organization you need to plan for it from the start.

That said here is my practical advice.
Asses your realistic production capability
Do you have equipment and skilled people for: welding, milling, lathing, composite (fiberglass), engine maintenance, … ? [I could go one for a while with this.]
Basically what can you make in house and while you have to do outside.
For your first year this will likely mean everything will be done outside.
Learning project management and design is more valuable than learning how to weld.
Over time try to bring things in-house not because you can do it better than professionals but because you can do it cheaper and probably faster.

If you have to do most of the work outside focus on design for manufacture and making good drawings.
If people are making things for you give for free give them lots of lead time, think 6 weeks.
If you can learn to manage outside production you’ll be in good shape for FSAE and the working world after.
The one in house skill you must have is assembly and car set up.
Basically everything else can be out sourced.

I would also recommend starting a resource library from the start.
Keep things like the To Win books, SAE papers and your own design report.


That’s enough rambling on my part, gotta get back to work!
-William