Momentum - March 2019 - 6

STUDENT
GENERATION

The final computer mount design integrated into the vehicle with all accompanying
components. The Michigan Tech team placed in second Concept Design Presentation.
but with time being a huge factor in this competition, perfecting one
or two of the events/challenges and then starting to work on others is
better than not being able to perfect any because you are working on
them all simultaneously.

IMPACT!

This article was written for MOMENTUM by Angela
Xydis, a fourth-year student majoring in mechanical
engineering at Michigan Tech. She serves as CoCaptain of the University's AutoDrive Challenge team.

(Definition: Having a strong effect on someone or something; affect,
influence, have an effect, have an influence, exert influence, make
an impression)

I recently attended an SAE Section meeting. The
meeting came to order, minutes were read, agenda
items announced, and action items discussed. The
meeting proceeded normally, and just before it
concluded I heard this comment from a member:
"CDS impacts people's lives."
I stopped my conversation, sat back down, and
inquired just what the statement meant to the member.
He told me his story of participation in CDS events, the
two years he worked on his team's project. The nights
and weekends spent designing and then building,
grinding, welding, and testing their vehicle. He recalled
the troubles he and his team had on site, and again the
long nights of fixing what broke, making it better (he
hoped), and finally the banquet and award programs.
He looked at me and smiled...he told me it was the
best time he had in college. I turned my head like a dog
does, not really understanding what was being said. The
last day of his last CDS event, he was offered a job by a
major OEM. He looked me in the eye, stood up and said,
"that is how CDS impacts lives."

6 March 2019

Lastly, we wanted to create less of a divide between
our undergraduates and our graduate students. We did
this by reworking our sub-teams from Year 1. In Year 2,
we have graduate students assigned to each of our subteams. This provides a much more cohesive environment
for collaboration.
The Year 2 competition will take place May 29 to
June 4 in Ann Arbor, Mich., and will focus on urban
environment driving scenarios with static and dynamic
objects. It will be located at Mcity, an urban test facility
that simulates a range of complexities that vehicles
encounter in urban and suburban driving environments.
We are very excited for Year 2 and are hoping the
changes we made will pay off. This competition is
an amazing learning experience, not only in terms
of exposure to autonomous cars, but also in terms
of team dynamics and the experience it provides in
taking concepts learned in our curriculum and putting
them to use on real-world projects.

At his new job, the first thing he did was sign up to be
an SAE Member, and he's been one now for over 15 years.
He has volunteered at numerous events, giving back to
the program. He is an officer of his local SAE Section and
volunteers at various events the section runs.
Is this story unique? Of course not. Hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of students could relate a similar story. Most
of the volunteers at CDS events are past participants
with stories just like the one above. Bottom line: "CDS
impacts people's lives."
Want to get involved? In 2019, with events in seven
states and Canada, there is always an event near you!
I encourage anyone who has an interest to volunteer.
In addition to all the satisfaction you get, we will toss
in a shirt and lunch for the day. Want to be part of this
group? Let us know. You can email us at Collegiate
Competitions: collegiatecompetitions@sae.org.
Thank you, and have a great season!
Take care,
Sam Barill
SAE Collegiate Design Series Competitions staff team member

MOMENTUM

Momentum - March 2019

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