{"55619":{"#nid":"55619","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GT Motorsports Team Competes in Annual Road Race","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs Tech students finished up their\nsemester\u2019s classes in preparation for finals, some were putting the final\ntouches of paint and tweaking the last few bolts on their Formula SAE\ncompetition car.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompleting the final assembly, GT\nMotorsports unveiled its car in time for the annual SAE Collegiate Design Series competition held at\nthe Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. The team spent last week\nroad-testing the car, and will compete in events through May 15.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Mechanical Engineering\nProfessor Kenneth A. Cunefare has been the faculty advisor for GT Motorsports\nsince 1992. A few days prior to the car\u2019s unveiling, he shared the team\u2019s golden rule: Finish the Car Early.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe sooner you get the car\nrunning, the better,\u201d he said. \u201cI tell the team members you want to break it\nhere. That shows you where the weaknesses are prior to the competition. Once\nthe car is ready, you can get the full team ready.\u201d With the car completed\nroughly 10 days in advance of the competition, Cunefare was confident the car\nwould be ready to go, barring any unforeseen problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe four-day competition is\nsponsored by (Sociey of Automotive Engineers) SAE International and plays a large role, Cunefare says, in\nsupporting the next generation of engineers. During the events, the team must\ndefend the car\u2019s design and mechanical choices before a panel of judges, show a\ncost analysis for the vehicle and file a production and marketing schedule for\nthe car.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGT Motorsports is open to all students in all disciplines. \u201cThe team needs every discipline a small company\nwould need to be successful,\u201d he said. Students, he says, do not necessarily\nwant to be in the racing industry. But GT Motorsports is helpful in applying\nwhat they have learned.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe complexity of what the\nstudents do is amazing,\u201d Cunefare said. The car\u2019s engine is purchased, but can\nbe modified. \u201cSo many of the parts\u2014brakes and suspension, for example\u2014are\ncustom-designed. Working as a team gives them directly relevant experience for\ntheir careers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFollowing these presentations, the\nrubber literally hits the road.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETeams showcase their cars\u2019\nstrengths in several events, including an acceleration test, a skid-pad run,\nautocross, fuel economy and an endurance event\u2014a 22-kilometer run. \u201cThe\nendurance round is 40 percent of the score,\u201d Cunefare said. \u201cThis round tests\nbraking, accelerating, handling, suspension \u2026 if the car breaks, it will be\nhere.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECunefare says only about one-third\nof cars finish the endurance round. \u201cAbout half the time, we don\u2019t finish,\u201d he\nsaid. He also describes a great collegiality among competitors, as members of\nopposing teams will help repair vehicles that are not theirs. Top speed of the\nvehicles is about 130 miles per hour, but the track layout limits the top speed\nto about 70.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast year\u2019s team, however, did\nfinish \u2014 in the top 10. In fact, Georgia Tech\u2019s students finished eighth\noverall, out of 100 teams from all over the world, from Germany, Canada,\nEngland, Austria and South America. Other iterations of the Formula SAE\ncompetition take place all over the globe. \u201cI tell the teams if we finish in\nthe top five, we\u2019ll go overseas and compete,\u201d Cunefare said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been to\nEngland three times\u2014won it twice\u2014and went to Australia once. We won.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile roughly 40 students contribute\nto the project, 25 are \u201chardcore\u201d about it, Cunefare says. Anywhere from 20 to\n25 students travel to the annual competitions. \u201cWhen registration opens for\nthis competition [in Michigan], it literally fills up in 10 minutes,\u201d he said.\n\u201cThe top 10 from previous years are guaranteed a space, though.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImmediately after the competition,\nCunefare says students will select the leadership for next year. On the drive\nback, they begin the design specifications. \u201cOver the summer, students will\ndesign the body and chassis,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the fall, they\u2019ll step up recruiting\nefforts.\u201d By the winter break, the design specs are finalized, and the spring\nsemester is spent only on vehicle fabrication.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECunefare, who is the faculty\nadvisor for GT Offroad and Wreck Racing, also advises the mechanical\nengineering senior capstone design class, co-teaches a course on\nhybrid\/electric power trains with the School of Electrical and Computer\nEngineering and is the co-developer of the Integrated Acoustics Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"As Tech students were finishing up classes in preparation for finals, some were putting the final touches of paint and tweaking the last few bolts on their Formula SAE competition car"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGT Motorsports competes in the annual FSAE competition\nheld on the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. The team will compete in events through May 15.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As Tech students were finishing up classes, some were tweaking the last few bolts on their Formula SAE competition car."}],"uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2010-05-12 09:14:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:57","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-05-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-05-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"55618":{"id":"55618","type":"image","title":"GT-Motorsports","body":null,"created":"1449175556","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:45:56","changed":"1475894494","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:34","alt":"GT-Motorsports","file":{"fid":"190338","name":"GTMotor.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTMotor_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTMotor_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3030385,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GTMotor_0.jpg?itok=TaMPvpYL"}},"55620":{"id":"55620","type":"image","title":"Ken Cunefare","body":null,"created":"1449175556","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:45:56","changed":"1475894494","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:34","alt":"Ken Cunefare","file":{"fid":"190339","name":"10C3038-P1-049.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10C3038-P1-049_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10C3038-P1-049_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1291698,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/10C3038-P1-049_0.jpg?itok=JHVUMp-z"}}},"media_ids":["55618","55620"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtms.gatech.edu\/","title":"GT Motorsports"},{"url":"http:\/\/students.sae.org\/competitions\/formulaseries\/","title":"SAE Collegiate Design Series"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/cunefare.shtml","title":"Professor Kenneth A. Cunefare"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9273","name":"GT Motorsports"},{"id":"9274","name":"Kenneth Cunefare"},{"id":"2378","name":"Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERona Ginsberg\u003C\/strong\u003E, Director of Communications, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-3214\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDon Fernandez\u003C\/strong\u003E, Institute Media Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6016\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}