Help me fix my life

Haha like the title says. I'm currently going to school to become a mechanical engineer but feel I'm living in the wrong region.. causing me to lose sight of my goals every now and then. I'm going to school of mines in south dakota, and the only thing keeping me here is our fsae team and proximity to my home (6 hours away as it is). I've autocrossed for a few years and its apparent that I want a career in motorsports and want to drive to pass the time. Essentially I'm looking for suggestions on schools with a good fsae team, with graduates that generally go on to have engineering jobs in the automotive industry. Also a school nearby some fellow FF drivers and some good race tracks with driving schools. Internships are attractive as well.

I can fund my journey.. i just don't know where to go.

Hey Bud, U of M has a smart ME school w/FSAE. 2 hrs to BIR, 6 to RA, MAM, BHF.

Just a thought, but I sense a longshot with today's ambient stuff at -20F with 15 knots out of the NW (-45F, or for you MEs out there, 2131.9 watts/m^2).

Iverson

Hmm I think I could pull that one off... I'll add it to my list and do some research on the school. BIR is about as close as it gets as of now! And ya the weather may have been the catalyst for this question in the first place :D

Go South Young Man!

It'll be 65 degrees today in Raleigh the home of N.C. State - noted for Engineering. They have a great FSAE program. ---> http://www.ncrscca.com/images/galler...am_fsae_01.jpg

and you'll be close to " Heaven on Earth" (well, according to the late Paul Newman) VIR --> http://www.virclub.com/

Not even tip of the iceburg for racing careers w/all of the NASCAR stuff a few hrs. away in the Charlotte/Mooresville area.

Well, you can't go wrong coming to Michigan... except that our economy's in the tank, good luck getting a J-O-B. MI Tech isn't so well placed for racing (or staying warm and social), but solid prorgams... Lawrence Tech of course, possibly MI State... these of course in addition of U of M...

Closest track is actually Waterford Hills, BTW - www.waterfordhills.com.

That said, if you have the option to go south and get closer to Charlotte etc - that'll get you more into motorsport than up here, I'd think!

This is just an opinion from someone with degrees in ME, and a non racing engineering job and a strong racing passion. You don't have to work in motorsports to be successful at engineering and to scratch the racing itch at the same time. There is something to be said for keeping job and favorite pastime separate. The two separate technical tracks sometimes complement each other well and you get knowledge from the one to apply to the other and vice versa.

I do understand that if someone 100% knows where they want to be 15-20 years from now, then don't beat around the bush, go through it. But focusing your efforts 100% on motorsports will narrow your life options and perhaps (only perhaps) limit your future success.

Take a hard look at NC State and Virginia Tech. Both are great engineering schools and are close to several tracks, such as VIR, CMP, Summit Point. Road Atlanta, Roebling Road, and Barber are also within reach. And the heart of the US motorsports industry is just down the road in the Mooresville/Charlotte area of NC.

Cranfield in the UK.

ffrgtm,
Go to any solid ME school and get to know well all the theory assocated with vehicle dyamics. Get "A's" in related engineeing courses. Learn to apply it in their FSAE program. Help take their car to a top 10 finish. Read all of Carrol Smith's books and identify his theoretical errors. Have fun racing while doing it. Then as the economy comes back, there will be a lot of people who will want to talk to you. The number one problem in all teams is finding smart, qualified, and hard working talent - average will not cut it, or even get looked at.
Wishing you well.

Look @ Purdue @ the Indianapolis campus they have a degree in Mortorsports engineering.

If you got the horse power and want to do it right, get your ME degree in motorsports then get a Masters in ME at Purdue or Michigan in Control Theory. This will put you on the level with Jeff Gordon's Team Engineer.

You should look at Georgia Tech as well. Top ME program and active motorsports program. Check out http://www.gtms.gatech.edu/index.php and good luck on your quest.

N

The University of Florida Gator Formula SAE team is the ONLY team to ever finish in the top ten in the world three years in a row, which includes this year.

I rest my case.

The Baja team was third in the world this year.

If you're not a Gator, you're Gator bait!

And today, December 18th, the high temperature in Gainsville will be 75 degrees

:checkered:

Head south. The Florida suggestion is a good one, SEC girls are the hottest (they just aren't in engineering). Their FSAE team is good as well. Far away from home is a bonus for college students. Don't forget to plan on 6 years for a 4 year degree, anything faster is wasting valuable goofing off time.

Pick a location where you want to go and then look for a school. My experience has been that most graduates end up working in the region of their school just because of who recruits at the school. If you want to end up in SD, you may want to stay in school around there.

As for working in motorsports, you might want to investigate salaries and job security and competitiveness. You might be better off finding a good job that will let you afford to go racing.

+1 to splitting hobbies and work. I work in automotive, but not racing, and get to play on the weekends instead of working - both time and money! I've spoken to many who do work and have worked in motorsport, it can be a whole lot of not fun...

I knew this was the right place to ask, thanks a ton everybody. Previously I hadn't really considered splitting hobbies and work, but after hearing some of your opinions I think I will give that a serious consideration. I suppose I had just decided that if I somehow made it on the other side of speedvision I would be happy regardless of how hard and tedious the work was. I suppose there is a level of romanticism when it comes to racing that masks the truth, I need work on talking to someone who is already where I was hoping to be. As of now I suppose I'll just suck it up and freeze my balls off for a while here... I think I can make use of a little delayed gratification.

On another note I got my first formula car a few days ago! What a blast to work on but this particular Canadian really need to learn how to wire, haha what a mess! I'd like to start some kind of blog/journal on my progress making the car something I can be proud of (and not start on fire in... who dumps five gallons of gas in the seat right before delivering a race car???).

-Ben


ps, heres my schools fsae car from last year... still putting the 09 one together.
http://fsae.sdsmt.edu/sections/team_.../car_thumb.jpg

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a really good school with a big engineering department and lots of co-op opportunities. They have a program for Mechanical Engineering with Automotive option, and a Formula SAE team.

Here's the engineering department's page:

http://www.rit.edu/kgcoe/mechanical/...automotive.htm

Feel free to email me if you have any questions about RIT; I'm a current student there.

I am starting a team at the university of illinois chicago. Been working on racecars for the past four years, with the last two in IPS and mazda, with last year as a DAG and then decided to finish my degree and do the FSAE thing. Get your foot in the door, call some people, work for free, if you really want to make it work you will. There are a ton of schools with good fsae teams but work experience will get you farther I think. An engineer I worked with last year graduated from purdue was interning at dale coyne during school and never was a part of the fsae team and he working as race engineer and is quite good at it. Its all that you put in. email me if you want to talk more.

Eliott

University of Texas-Austin (track 2 hours) and Texas A&M-College Station (track 12 minutes) both have programs.

CSU offers a Masters degree in Motorsports Engineering, and boasts a standalone motorsports campus. And yes, they have an FSAE program, too. Just a bit further south, but a lot warmer!