Welcome back FSAE.com! ... But why the lack of discussion?

[Composites Guy]

Glad the forum is back up! When it went missing I was worried that a lot of good car design discussion had been swept into the internet's wastebin without warning (kind of like when my wife goes on a house re-organizing binge :-)

I wonder why conversation has dried up on this site? That "other" site where FSAE participants congregate has devolved into a meme and rant cesspool. Certainly there have to be a large number of us enthusiasts with unanswered questions and interesting new ideas to explore. I don't buy the idea that everything FSAE-related has already been discussed in the archives. There are always new rules, software, COTS parts, materials and design approaches to explore.

[DougMilliken]

I always read/post here from a laptop. How well does this site display on different kinds of phones?

[Silente]

agree, this forum has always been a source of great discussions and information. Would be a pity to somehow loose it.

[anthony_gr]

That "other" site where FSAE participants congregate has devolved into a meme and rant cesspool

That's a pretty accurate description of what that site has turned into. Every once in a while a good thread will grow, but more often than not it's memes.

I believe it to be from the format of forums encouraged users to type out their complete thought as opposed to the "chat like" nature of the newer forum bases (ie Reddit).

[Will M]

Hi,

There was a time when FSAE and this forum were some of the most important parts of my life. Naturally that lessened after college but I continue to support my old team with donations are rounding up sponsorship and I stayed active here till spring 2018. Even 2 years ago the declining level of participation was clear. There were a number of heated conversations at the time about what was driving people to other platforms; and they regrettably devolved into ad hominem attacks by and toward senior forum members.

I admitted fanned the flames with two surveys; though I stand by their results.

1) There is a disconnect between the goals of the competition (to have a rigorous engineering competition) and the goals of most students (build a cool car, have fun, and improve their engineering skills).

2) Most students left because the forums became a toxic place with senior members shaming new joiners, there are better platforms out there, and the info they need is already here.

All of this is just my opinion and I don’t want to re-open old wounds or pick a fight; just want to provide context for people that stumble across this. Sometime I think the best thing that could happen would be for the best material here to be compiled and then to start over.

****

Survey #1 Why did you participate in FSAE? What was your personal goal?

Students top 2 goals: 58% Build a cool car and have fun, 56% Improve your engineering skill set, 27% Win the competition, 26% Get a job in motorsports

Things people like most about FSAE: Friends and designing the car
Things people like least about FSAE: The organization, static events, university specific issues, and poor team dynamics

Summary 1.1
http://www.fsae.com/forums/showthread.php?12463-Why-did-you-participate-in-FSAE-What-was-your-personal-goal&p=127387#post127387
Summary 1.2
http://www.fsae.com/forums/showthread.php?12541-Design-Judging&p=127990#post127990

Survey #2 Why did you stop posting here?

59% "because this place is toxic with posters being called out and shamed by people like Claude and Z too regularly"
36% There are better platform options
25% The info I want from here has already been discussed. Just read old threads and no need to post
13% Low activity level so I don't post (catch 22)
8% Excess of "Give me the answer plz thx" posts
4% I graduated
3% I post regularly at www.fsae.com/forums/
2% Not aware of it

Summary 2.1
http://www.fsae.com/forums/showthread.php?12541-Design-Judging&p=127996#post127996

[mech5496]

Thanks Will. I have the feeling that younger students nowadays are much more familiar with the format of Facebook/social media, and are not so much into forums. Although tracking back info through social media can be a huge pain, so you see the same questions being asked over and over and over again...

[jd74914]

Agree. Many traditional forums seem to be dying (or at least the ones with a mean user age <30). I always liked forums due to the chronological nature, but hey, I'm on the old side.

It seems the heyday of this forum was maybe '04-'12...most everyone participating during that time likely is out of the game now and has too many job, family, etc. commitments to really contribute to question answers. Of course, no new blood has really been attracted since those times either.

[Big Bird]

Yeah, the ol forums are a little light on content these days. I've stumbled across the odd FB post, but most of the discussion there is very light weight.

My warmest wishes to any of the old crowd still visiting here.

Take care all.

Cheers,

Geoff

[Pat Clarke]

You too Geoff'
Keep safe
Pat

[DougMilliken]

Yeah, the ol forums are a little light on content these days....
Geoff,

Great to hear from you.

When questions come in, I often send links to FSAE.com. If the local search function lets me down, I use Google site search. For example, Google Image search for: site:fsae.com Z
Brings up thumbnails of Z's drawings (and some other images posted here as well).

Separate question (which I may have asked before), is there a backup/archive of this whole site somewhere?

-- Doug

[Big Bird]

G'day Pat and Doug,

Nice to hear from you both. Yep, I am doing OK, living on a farm in Northern Vic (not far from where FSAE-A gets run these days at Winton - at least, in years it does get run.

I hope you are both keeping safe and well, and out of the virus's way. Corona - what a tedious car to name a global pandemic after.

Take care gents.

Geoff

[DougMilliken]

Hi Geoff,

OK here near Buffalo/Niagara, at least so far...

Your memory is good, I'd forgotten Toyota Corona. Drove a well-used example in the 1980s, lots of body roll & pitch, iirc (but the owner said it was very reliable). Later the model was renamed to Camry for US market.

Best wishes,
-- Doug

[Big Bird]

Just a quick note to let you all know that I'm still alive and enjoying life. What is happening in FSAE land these days? Are there any competitions running while the COVID-19 pandemic is still happening?

Would love to hear from any old timers, not so old timers or even some new timers and first timers if there is anyone out there up for a chat.

cheers all

Geoff

[DougMilliken]

Hi Geoff,

Great to hear from you. Other than the ~0.5 meters of snow yesterday, things are fine here in Buffalo. Most of the students have moved to Reddit and there is also a relatively new page of curated articles here, https://www.designjudges.com/

Here's my take on the first virtual event, http://www.fsae.com/forums/showthread.php?12633-2020-Virtual-Design-Judging
For a variety of reasons I didn't join the virtual design judging last year, although I heard that it went OK.

As noted in the sticky, FSAETTC is alive and well. I just had an update from Calspan, they are nearly done with the special setup needed for the small tires and with any luck should be testing in a few hours.

Best wishes,
-- Doug