Ford has been mentoring the next generation of student race teams, offering the time and expertise of its engineers and allowing teams to test their cars in its wind tunnel facilities in Allen Park, Michigan.
A wide variety of teams have been using the facilities. These include the University of Michigan-Dearborn; University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Missouri University of Science and Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Michigan State University; and The Ohio State University.
“For Ford this is great community involvement. We have the testing facilities, we can answer the technical questions, and we can offer occasional manufacturing support,” said Erik Stancato, a Ford vehicle architecture-vehicle integration engineer.
The facility enables the students to do full design cycles. Steve Wegryn, Ford supervisor of wind tunnel operations, explained, “By simulating race speeds, they can validate their projections and estimations on downforce and drag with hard data – enabling them to tweak their designs for optimal performance.”
September 7, 2016
