Student engineers to host 15th annual Texas Autocross Weekend July 17-19 at UT Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington student Formula SAE racing team will host at least a dozen teams from across North America for the 15th Annual Texas Autocross Weekend July 17-19 on the UT Arlington campus.
Bob Woods, adviser to the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers student racing team and a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said this year’s event features about 30 student-built racecars.
The universities that have committed to attending the event include: the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, University of North Texas, UT San Antonio, University of New Mexico, University of Kansas, Oklahoma State University, Louisiana State University, Texas Tech and others. The University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, claims the longest trip to the event.
“The Texas Autocross Weekend allows student formula car teams to get together and share stories about their projects,” said Woods, who started the program in the 1970s. “It’s important for teams that are just starting out to visit and see what is possible. It’s also nice to see the camaraderie among the teams. They all want to win but seeing them share information and knowledge they’ve gained in the classroom and the garage makes the event worth every minute.”
This autocross event will be the third for Senior Wyatt Langston, the local team’s engine design lead.
“I have a hand in the engine system, fuel system, cooling system, the intake and exhaust systems, pretty much the guts of the formula car,” Langston said.
Each year, students from across campus converge in Woolf Hall to design and build a formula racecar from scratch. Most students are from the College of Engineering but some have hailed from architecture, liberal arts and other schools and colleges at UT Arlington.
The UT Arlington team previously has been ranked No. 5 in the world and No. 1 in the United States.
For Langston, the additional work always has been a labor of love.
“I’ve always been interested in building racecars. It’s nice finding friends with similar interests,” Langston said. “And my experience here has led to a paid internship at Fischer Motor Sports in Garland. I’m doing computer-assisted design there. There’s no way I would have been considered for that job had it not been for my experience on the FSAE team.”
Competition starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 18, in Lot 49, which is at the northeast corner of Cooper Street and Doug Russell Road. Admission is free.
Racing begins again at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 19, on Lot 49. Each competitor will get four runs on a more formal event. Sound limits will be enforced in all races.
The UT Arlington team will host an open house at 3 p.m. Friday, July 17, at the Arnold E. Petsche Center for Automotive Engineering in Woolf Hall (southeast corner), 500 W. First St. Teams are invited to make any last-minute tune-ups and modification to their cars.
About The University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive research institution of more than 50,600 students in campus-based and online degree programs and is the second largest institution in The University of Texas System. The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked UT Arlington as one of the 20 fastest-growing public research universities in the nation in 2014. U.S. News & World Report ranks UT Arlington fifth in the nation for undergraduate diversity. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as a “Best for Vets” college by Military Times magazine. Visit www.uta.edu to learn more, and find UT Arlington rankings and recognition at www.uta.edu/uta/about/rankings.php.
###
Tags:
