UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

A senior-heavy squad from Minnesota State University, Mankato, takes a different approach to team dynamics and jumps 34 spots to 17th overall at the 2016 Formula SAE Michigan competition.

A LOT CHANGED FROM Minnesota State University, Mankato's 2015 Formula SAE team to its 2016 version. Among those changes is that we grew seven senior members. We also narrowed the focus on “don't redesign the wheel” as we call it; we carried over a lot of the previous year's designs so we could use our time more effectively.

The 2015 team was comprised of 18 senior members, and my team was comprised of 25 senior members. One of the biggest changes in dynamics between the two teams was that last year's captain was very hands-on and was a subject matter expert (SME) on most of the car, if not all. Being an SME takes away from maintaining communication and keeping the flame alive to keep pushing forward. As a junior on the 2015 team, I served as underclassmen liaison. My job was to make sure that the non-senior members were well informed on the events that were happening and to note how the team was conducting its tasks.