Last Updated 1.31.2024
EVENT CAPTAINS: Bill Riley, Chris Patton
VENUE: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI, USA
Relevant Documents:
- Formula SAE Rules
- Design Briefing PPT Template
- Design Spec Sheet Template (IC and EV)
- Design Scoring Rubric (IC and EV)
- Reference Documents (Anthroprmetric Reference Data, Cockpit Control Forces, etc)
Design Judging Procedure:
Submission Requirements:
- Student Competitors must submit:
- Design Briefing (DB)
- Design Spec Sheet (DSS)
- Three View Drawing (3VD)
- Deadline: Prior to the competition as per the official FSAE rules.
- Consequence of Late or Non-Submission: As per the official FSAE rules, including possible Removal of Team Entry.
Content of Design Briefing:
- Should highlight design goals, processes, and engineering details.
- Audience: Experienced engineers and engineering managers.
- Style: Concise, technical, covering all major vehicle systems and notable features.
- Required template is available at fsaeonline.com.
First Round Design Judging:
- Location and Time: 8:30am-5:30pm on Thursday (refer to schedule)
- For IC Competition: Held in G3.
- For EV Competition: Held in the Design Tent beyond G3.
- Duration: 1 hour per team, with ~45 minutes of review with the team and 15 minutes for judges’ notes and scoring.
- In fairness to other student competitors, vehicles will be rolled in and out on schedule.
- Volunteers will assist teams into design bays. Please accept their guidance to streamline entry and exit from the design event space.
- Cars must be weighed on the official scales (in G1) before First Round Design judging. It is recommended that teams arrive to be weighed at least 30 minutes prior to their design judging time slot.
- Late Arrivals: Risk of reduced judging time or non-judgment, and a missed opportunity to score points. Again, cars must be weighed before Design Judging.
- To schedule a debrief on Friday or Saturday, teams should exchange contact info with Design Judges during first round judging.
- Design judging will consist of ~15 groups (queues) of judges, each with 5-7 design judges. This means ~15 cars are being judged simultaneously.
Feedback and Scoring:
Design judges from your queue will seek out teams on Friday and Saturday in order to return score sheets, explain individual scores, and provide targeted feedback. The judges are strongly encouraged to make lots of notes and provide written feedback for the student competitors. Students are strongly encouraged to approach Design Judges on the days following the Design Event to request additional feedback on their designs.
Note: The score sheet is a tool for judges, the values on the form will likely not add up to the team’s official score.
- Advancement: approximately 10% of the field will be selected for the Design Finals. This is a rough guideline and the exact number is at the judge’s discretion.
- Design Finalists will be announced Thursday night.
- The Design Event Captains and roving judges work to assure consistency in this selection.
- Non-Finalist scores will be announced on Friday.
Preparation for Judging:
- Teams should prepare a brief (2-3 minute) introduction of their car and be ready for a conversational or question-and-answer style of design evaluation.
- Each team should have at least one representative prepared to discuss each major system individually. This means five or more students should be prepared to speak independently.
- If the judges have to split their time between a single student (i.e., if one team member holds ALL the answers), lower scores could result based on total amount of information received.
- Evaluation Areas - Expanded definitions for each area have been provided on the Design Score Sheet.
- Suspension
- Frame / Body / Aero
- Powertrain
- Cockpit / Controls / Brakes / Safety
- Systems Management / Integration
- Manufacturability / Serviceability
- Aesthetics / Style
- Creativity
- Resources: Review the Design Judging Score Sheet available at formulasae.com. It provides insights into how teams will be judged, as well as a detailed breakdown of each judging category.
The Design Event is NOT intended to be a presentation of the Design Briefing, though teams are welcome to reference the DB or its content during the event.
Students should bring any and all information they feel is relevant (spreadsheets, simulation data/plots, parts, photos, video, etc.) to support their design efforts. Data, data, data! Large, elaborate display boards are not required. A simple well-organized binder or tablet with relevant data can be very effective.
Simply showing up with a great car is not good enough. The judges will give higher Design scores to demonstrations of well-documented engineering than to simple words. A high value is placed on the student team’s ability to Design, Build, Refine & Validate, and Understand your car.
Design Finals:
Location and Time: Friday evening in the design bays (refer to schedule).
- Procedure: Design Judges visit all Finalist teams. Team members discuss relevant systems with Design Judges as they arrive. Non-speaking members should remain outside the judging area. Teams are encouraged to have one team member serve as a first contact for Design Judges, able to connect the judge’s expertise with the appropriate student.
- Finalist scores (except top three) will be announced on Saturday.
Public Design Review:
Location and Time: Saturday before the Awards Ceremony (refer to schedule).
At the Public Design Review, judges will present relevant design topics, reinforcing essential design and engineering principles, and provide feedback to guide teams. All student competitors are invited and encouraged to watch. Students, especially those on less experienced teams, should find the Design Review informative and useful for improving next year’s Formula SAE efforts.
