The Royces say Goodbye

[Michael Royce]

Some of you may have already heard rumors of this, but I think it is appropriate that the whole FSAE community hear the news. There are two announcements that I feel I need to make.

Firstly, after 9 years as the Chairman of the FSAE Rules Committee, SAE has decided that I should step aside. For a number of reasons, I felt it was better to resign from the committee as a whole rather than hang around and muddy the waters for the new chairman. I have tendered my resignation and it has been accepted.

Secondly, Suzanne and I have been involved in Formula SAE and Formula Student for 23 years, ever since the event first came north to Lawrence Tech in 1986. During that time we have officiated at over 50 FSAE and FS events. Our belief is that Formula is to be viewed as an educational competition, and our philosophy as Technical Inspectors is, and always has been that:

1. Safety is the number 1 priority. For the long-term good of the programme as well as the immediate good of all involved, it must not be compromised.
2. ALL rules must be applied to ALL teams fairly and equitably.
3. Within numbers 1 and 2 above, the Technical Inspectors will work with the teams to get their cars through Tech Inspection so that they can compete on the track.

However, it appears that a small number of people have been unhappy with some of the decisions we have made and believe that we have not followed our own credo, (particularly number 2). These individuals feel that we have penalized them unjustly, and they have complained to the SAE staff to such a degree that our professional integrity is now being questioned. We stand by our past decisions based on the application of points #1 and #2. However, we have decided that we will not participate in any North American Formula SAE events for the foreseeable future. We did not make this decision lightly but cannot continue in the current environment.

We are still convinced that Formula SAE/Formula Student is the premier engineering student competition in the world. We have seen it grow from 25 or so teams to over 400 in 40 plus countries on 5 continents. Please continue to support it. For those of you who have graduated, please go back and volunteer at the event closest to you. FSAE alumni make excellent officials, usually!

Over the years, we have enjoyed meeting so many of you, we wish you all well in your future endeavours, and we hope that we will meet again sometime and somewhere.

Michael Royce

[Michael Royce]

Some of you may have already heard rumors of this, but I think it is appropriate that the whole FSAE community hear the news. There are two announcements that I feel I need to make.

Firstly, after 9 years as the Chairman of the FSAE Rules Committee, SAE has decided that I should step aside. For a number of reasons, I felt it was better to resign from the committee as a whole rather than hang around and muddy the waters for the new chairman. I have tendered my resignation and it has been accepted.

Secondly, Suzanne and I have been involved in Formula SAE and Formula Student for 23 years, ever since the event first came north to Lawrence Tech in 1986. During that time we have officiated at over 50 FSAE and FS events. Our belief is that Formula is to be viewed as an educational competition, and our philosophy as Technical Inspectors is, and always has been that:

1. Safety is the number 1 priority. For the long-term good of the programme as well as the immediate good of all involved, it must not be compromised.
2. ALL rules must be applied to ALL teams fairly and equitably.
3. Within numbers 1 and 2 above, the Technical Inspectors will work with the teams to get their cars through Tech Inspection so that they can compete on the track.

However, it appears that a small number of people have been unhappy with some of the decisions we have made and believe that we have not followed our own credo, (particularly number 2). These individuals feel that we have penalized them unjustly, and they have complained to the SAE staff to such a degree that our professional integrity is now being questioned. We stand by our past decisions based on the application of points #1 and #2. However, we have decided that we will not participate in any North American Formula SAE events for the foreseeable future. We did not make this decision lightly but cannot continue in the current environment.

We are still convinced that Formula SAE/Formula Student is the premier engineering student competition in the world. We have seen it grow from 25 or so teams to over 400 in 40 plus countries on 5 continents. Please continue to support it. For those of you who have graduated, please go back and volunteer at the event closest to you. FSAE alumni make excellent officials, usually!

Over the years, we have enjoyed meeting so many of you, we wish you all well in your future endeavours, and we hope that we will meet again sometime and somewhere.

Michael Royce

[Mike Cook]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

I appreciate everything you have done for everyone involved in FSAE. I wouldn't be the person I am without it. I've got to know the two of you better in the last few years and I know you both will be greatly missed. Your safety record is impeccable and I can't imagine how difficult it will be for someone to fill your shoes.

Hope to see you again,
Mike Cook

[Moke]

Mr and Mrs Royce

On behalf of the Auckland teams of past, we wish you both well in the future. And although we had our moments, we have always respected what you added to the competition and your expertise will be missed.

No doubt you will still be seen around events.

[RiNaZ]

I believe a standing ovation is in order.

I joined SAE in 99' and have gone through Baja, FSAE, F-Hybrid with you. I learned a lot from you. Your accent and your wife's yelling in the background will surely be missed.

Thank you, sincerely from the bottom of my heart.

[js10coastr]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

Thank you for all of your time and effort. I would have never dreamed of working in motorsports (I'm not sure I'd call anything in motorsports a "career"), but because of you, the competition and the community I've got an unstable and stressful job where I'm over worked and underpaid... even still I wouldn't change it for the world.

While I can understand how certain teams may complain when tensions are high in the heat of competition, I will never forget the sight of you running over to our Formula Hybrid car, trying to get us through tech as we waited for the electrical inspectors. For me this is case in proof of your aforementioned philosophy.

Many thanks!

[Mr. White]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

Thank you for your work and for the fairness shown in every FSAE event.

[exFSAE]

The safety record at comp speaks for itself. Good work.

[J. Vinella]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

You will be dearly missed and I wish the best for you in your future.

Somebody has some very large shoes to fill.

Best regards,

[TorqueWrench]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

You forced many of us to think of safety much more than we most likely would have on our own and for that I thank you. The fact no one has been seriously injured in this competition so far speaks a lot to the work you have done. I think SAE will be challenged to find someone else who cares as much as you do about this program to take over for you. You will be missed.

[cmeissen]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to FSAE. Your contributions have helped in making FSAE as successful as it has been. Your dedication and enthusiasm for the event will be sorely missed.

[rjwoods77]

One of the nicest people I have ever met. Also with a pitch line of "Because eggs is eggs" how could you not be cool.

[Kevin Dunn]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,
It was nice meeting both of you last year at the 2008 Michigan competition. I'm sure I'm not alone when I tell you how much we all appreciate the hardwork and effort you made FSAE/FS in the time you've been involved. I enjoyed hosting your last Tech Inspector seminar at LTU and chatting with you and Suzanne on the plane to California also.

Good luck with everything and thanks again for your heavy involvement!

[Mikey Antonakakis]

Although we'd only spoken briefly at the last Michigan competition, I can say with confidence that everyone at Columbia will miss the two of you. How your integrity and fairness is in question is beyond me, and I hope all parties involved can come to an agreeable resolution.

I would personally like to thank you for our impact attenuator situation this year, because if it weren't for you we wouldn't have competed in any dynamic events.

I know I am not alone when I say that this announcement makes me very sad.

[michaelwaltrip]

Seriously?

The Royces were the most professional, fair, and had the most integrity of any FSAE staff I've ever had the chance of working with or talking to.

I'm extremely disappointed that a small group of people have to make the event as a whole worse for the majority. I hope that the powers-that-be at SAE come to their senses soon and realize how ridiculous these accusations are.

[ben]

First of all I'd like to add my appreciation for the Royce's work to the others on this thread.

It's a shame that certain accusations have caused this situation to arise. I can certainly remember the frustrations of competiting when you're sleep deprived and trying to race a car during exams, etc. To be told anything negative at this time is liable to cause a reaction, it's just a shame that something like this has escalated.

Mr and Mrs Royce, the competition would not be what it is without you. Thank you.

Ben

[Bazanaius]

It was an absolute pleasure finally meeting you for the first time this year - it appears I got in just in time! Seconding what everyone above has said, your enthusiasm and input personified the reason everyone is in this Formula.

I wish you all the best, and hope you to see you again in the UK next year.

[Adambomb]

Yes, it is truly a shame. You have both set the bar high and held a high standard, which is evident not only in the series' impeccable safety record but also in the quality of cars present. It is pretty common knowledge that the rules require very close scrutiny, no messing around there! Compare this to ASME HPV, where I've heard stories about PVC roll hoops, marginal (at best) suspensions and brakes, etc., and it becomes clear that your actions have made a huge impact on the quality of cars built these days. Even the Solar Car competition doesn't compare (just look at the brakes on any of ISU's solar cars), which is terrible when you consider those cars go on public roads!

Of course, with these high standards I suppose it is only natural that there would be some complaints. I think a lot of people can't appreciate how easily the whole series could be ruined by an accident...never mind the personal injury that is possible. Such a shame it had to come to this. I have also witnessed how much both of you bent over backwards to ensure everyone could compete. I can remember several instances where we had overlooked some seemingly minor (at least at the time of design and build) detail, but we were always given an opportunity to make whatever corrections were necessary on the spot so we could race. It takes quite the keen eye to spot these sort of problems before they become emergencies, and again, the safety record speaks for itself!

You will both be greatly missed, +1 on having some mighty big shoes to fill.

[Travis Garrison]

Wow, I wasn’t expecting this when I logged in this morning. Thank you for everything you and your wife have done to develop the series into what it is today. I can’t imagine how boring school would have been without FSAE there to put all that classroom work into perspective.

For what it’s worth I can honestly say I have never heard of a team being treated unfairly, plenty of us complained in the heat of competition I’m sure, but I’ve only heard good things about the work you and your wife have done for the rest of us during our college years.

Thanks.

Travis Garrison

[Homemade WRX]

Mr. and Mrs. Royce,

I would like to deeply thank you for all that you have done to promote and support this competition and to engineering education as a whole. Your presence will no doubt be missed by many.

You may remember me as the student with the most email questions for FSAE in 06 http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

With warm regards,

[Drew Price]

Let us all bow our heads, and take in this last installment of the Gospel, the Book of Royce, book B3, verse 20.4:

"B3.20.4 Impact Attenuator Anti-Intrusion Plate – Clarified – To simplify this requirement anti-intrusion
plates are now required on ALL cars."



You will be missed.

Tell Suzanne thanks again for teaching our team the finer points of proper safety-harness adornment, they are tidbits we pass on to any new member joining our ranks at the first opportunity, and is the sort of attention to detail in education that draws us to be involved in the competition.

Maybe I'll see you bumming around the paddocks sometime in the future.

Best,
Drew

[Mikey Antonakakis]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Drew Price:
Let us all bow our heads, and take in this last installment of the Gospel, the Book of Royce, book B3, verse 20.4:

"B3.20.4 Impact Attenuator Anti-Intrusion Plate – Clarified – To simplify this requirement anti-intrusion
plates are now required on ALL cars."
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yet another Columbia rule...

[Thrainer]

I can't help but think about FS Italy and that it might not have been such a disastrous event from an organisational (E85) and safety point of view, of Michael Royce had been there.

I hope you will still visit Silverstone and Hockenheim 2010. (I'm not suggesting that these events would go the same route as FS Italy, if he doesn't come)

[coastertrav]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mikey Antonakakis:


Yet another Columbia rule... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Care to explain?

[Mikey Antonakakis]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by coastertrav:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mikey Antonakakis:


Yet another Columbia rule... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Care to explain? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, our impact attenuator mounting plate did not extend to all four members that make up the front box, but only the side two. We went up the ranks of tech spec judges arguing our case that it was indeed allowed by the rules, or at least not clarified enough to keep us from being able to compete. We stuck to our guns, and ended up talking to Michael Royce, and he agreed with us, though he mentioned that rule would be changed this year.

The reason it is yet another Columbia rule, is that perhaps our biggest claim to fame so far in this competition is the rule about how intakes cannot be solidly mounted to a chassis. This happened a few years ago to us. The chassis flexed while accelerating during the brake test, the intake manifold (which was rigidly mounted to the chassis) cracked, and the engine ran wide open. The killswitch was not easily accessible by the driver (behind the steering wheel), so for whatever reason, if I remember the story correctly, he jumped out of the car before it crashed into some hay bales. So yeah, intake mounting and killswitch location are also rules we take credit for http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Finally, on behalf of my team, thanks again for your fairness and for allowing us to compete last year. You will be missed, but hopefully we'll see you in Michigan this year.

Sincerely,
The guy who spends too much time on the internet

[Mike Macie]

I believe Anti Intrusion plates used to be required only for foam and honeycomb attenuators. So teams with carbon/kevlar nosecone style attenuators or other kinds did not need the plate according to the old rules. Now it's required for everyone.

I wouldn't say it's because of one team. Just a rule for all style attenuators to focus on the safety for all drivers.

[Gareth]

Thank-you for your many years of service to the student engineering community. Your contribution has elevated the competition to higher heights and ensured an impeccable safety record. Your efforts have had an undoubtedly positive effect.

I've stood next to several cars and argued the finer points of the rules with you and your officials, as have countless others. This was always seen as a natural part of the competition, as many innovations challenge the intent of the rules. It's disappointing that a small faction of these have had such a negative experience with this process. Perhaps our friends in Formula 1 have been setting a bad example. Why can't they just get on the business of racing without all the silly-gate scandals?

Finally, I hope your replacements continue to exercise careful discretion in the spirit of the competition.