Seniors cap off the year with final projects - Part 2

May 21

By Maggie Beidelman

For junior Andrew Valmonte, the term "senior project" is a misnomer. "I'm done with my senior design project in my third year," said the mechanical engineering major.

Valmonte and his design team are building a racecar that they will enter into the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers West Collegiate Design Series, which will be held June 25-28 in Fontana, Calif.

The idea for the project originated from Valmonte's interest in cars. "Ever since I could drive, I've been into cars," he said.

As a sophomore, Valmonte did some research on racing technologies and found an article about Duke University's participation in the Formula SAE project. He immediately decided that Santa Clara could do the same.

"I thought we should start a club so that I could get people interested in motorsport, and through that, maybe we could get them to help out with the project," said Valmonte.

Since Valmonte formed the SAE Collegiate Club last spring, approximately 15 engineering students have helped with the project.

These students include seniors Anthony Le, Zachary Rubenson, Chase Luckey and Erik Ostlund, who have worked on the project from the start. The team's faculty advisor is professor of mechanical engineering Drazen Fabris.

"We had to get an early start because we had very little experience and no sponsors to speak of," said Valmonte. "Most of these teams, they do get funding from the school, but it's not enough to cover this project because it is pretty spendy. Ours is coming out to around $50,000 when all is said and done."

The competition itself consists of three parts: a panel judging of the car's construction, a race on an autocross track and a cost report presented by the team.

Rubenson will be driving the car for the race.

Because of the unsuccessful attempt to form a Formula SAE West team at Santa Clara in the past, Valmonte's team, which is appropriately named Bronco Racing, initially faced a lot of resistance. Funding from the university was limited, so they turned to corporate sponsors. "Our first sponsor was an alumnus -- this guy named Kevin Reesey," said Valmonte. Reesey donated $2,000 worth of gear to the team.

After talking with Nate Hearn of the Development Office, Valmonte discovered that Hearn is friends with Geoff Fox of Fox Racing, who also happens to be a former Santa Clara professor. The team invited Fox to lunch at the Adobe Lodge. "At the end of the conversation, he said, 'This is a really good project. Here's $10,000.' We were pretty stoked when we got that," said Valmonte.

Though Bronco Racing has been fundraising for over a year, they still need money for some necessary equipment, such as drivers' uniforms. "We have raised $19,500 cash, $5,000 of which was from the School of Engineering," said Valmonte. "I would estimate that sponsor donations in terms of labor and parts would estimate to be around $20,000."

The team has encountered other difficulties with the project. "We've actually had to outsource most of the man hours on the project," said Valmonte, because access to the Santa Clara machine shop was limited. "Our (car) body was supposed to be outsourced, but that fell through, so we're building it in my garage."

The most difficult thing, said Valmonte, is coordinating the team. "Most FSAE teams have a good number of students, about 40 members," said Valmonte. "The hardest thing is to get people to help us out."

Valmonte hopes to get more students interested in Formula SAE so that the team can continue next year.

"I have been tired of the way school's been going," he said. "It's just learn some new material, take a test on it and get a good grade on the test. Finally, here's something that takes my major, my focus -- mechanical engineering -- takes everything that I've ever learned in it, and is like okay, apply it right here, right now."

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.

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