american manufacturing in hands of unf students

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA STUDENTS DESIGN AND BUILD FORMULA VEHICLES FOR NATIONWIDE COMPETITION FOCUSED ON CHALLENGING THE MINDS OF FUTURE ENGINEERS.

FORMULA SAE IS A COMPETITION focused on a fictional manufacturing company that “contracts” a design team to develop a small, Formula One-styled prototype vehicle for the non-professional, weekend, competitive market. Formula teams, comprised of university students around the world, face challenges in designing and testing their fully functional and finished vehicles.

The University of North Florida (UNF) has entered the competition for the second year in a row under the name Osprey Racing. Strict rules state that vehicles must have all intake air funnel through one small restrictor that must be no more than 20 mm (0.79 in) in diameter. This presents a challenge for university teams that must discover the best way to reduce turbulence in their vehicles and increase air intake for fast acceleration. The UNF team decided that it would be easier, more efficient, and allow for more complex geometry for the restrictor, diffuser, and plenum intake arrangement to be manufactured via additive manufacturing.