FAU's SAE Racing Team Takes First Place at the 4th Annual Formula South Invitational

The Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) racing team won first place in the 4th Annual Formula South Invitational hosted by Kennesaw State University Motorsports, Formula SAE team, at the Kennesaw State Marietta, Georgia campus.

The FAU team entered the 2016 racecar, OR-16, and placed first overall, second in skid pad and first in both acceleration and autocross out of more than six teams attending from the southeast region.

"I am extremely proud of these young engineers and they should be very proud of their performance," said Javad Hashemi, Ph.D., chair of FAU’s Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. "I believe this team is on its way to be a strong competitor in the 2016 Formula SAE Michigan competition."

From the 29-person team, 14 members attended the competition. The attending team was made up of all mechanical engineering students with the exceptions of Josh Garcia, a civil engineering major; Halle Mayne, a criminal justice and psychology major; and Stephen Lyons, an electrical engineering major and included team president, Trent Ksionek, Juan Amengual,Chris Branfield, Mathew Burgos, Seth Chapman,Marco Cheraso, Alex Conrad, Steven Gaillot, Daniel Morishita-Horner, Steven Stanfield, and Thomas Strickland. The team was also aided by team advisor, Oren Masory, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering at FAU, and FAU senior lab teaching instructor, Fred Knapp.

The team members that did not attend the race include history student, Alejandro Palacin; electrical engineering students, Hudson Lowe, and Max Wellnitz; and mechanical engineering students, Luis Escobar, Mitchell Harden, Connor King, Tais Kraljevic, O'Brien Lavin, Jason Lin, Rugger Marra, Chase Nalls, Matthew Quintieri, Carlos Sigala, Shaun Swannick and Gabriela Zamojski.

"Owls Racing has come a long way over the years. In the last two years the team has moved from having the vehicle running for the first time the day before the FSAE Michigan competition, to having it ready for testing three months ahead of time," said Ksionek. "Our continued improvement would not be possible without the efforts of our dedicated team members and the University's support as a whole."

The goal of the event is to help promote and advance an interest in engineering programs and create a mock event where teams can compete to test and tune their cars before they enter the May 2016 Formula SAE.

For more information about the Owls Racing team, visit their website at www.OwlsRacing.com.