Tag: university

Report: University shuts down Formula SAE program over racy photo

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Etc., Racing

Waterloo SAE Car

According to TheRecord.com, The University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, temporarily shut down its Formula SAE team after a female team member was photographed next to the chapter’s race car, clad only in a bikini and high heels. The young lady who stripped down for the shot said she wanted to show her femininity juxtaposed with her engineering talents. The school, however, was not impressed with her racy display.

The irony, according to the team, is that the photo shoot was for an entry in a calendar contest designed to promote women. The female SAE member was hoping to use the photograph as her entry into the contest, which apparently celebrates beauty and brains.

Whatever her motives were, the university put the administrative clamp on the team, supposedly because they used the design department’s studio for the photo shoot without getting permission. The suspension means the team won’t be allowed to take their car to Michigan in May for the international SAE competition. Basically, the students’ months of toil on their 600-cc sportbike-powered track star will be for naught.

Despite the harsh penalty, the school was quick to praise the team’s efforts, and members were assured they’d still get academic credit for the work they put in. Still, for a team of aspiring automotive engineers who poured countless hours, more stress than anyone should ever live under and immeasurable passion into the build, academic credit is small consolation for missing the competition.

We’d love to show you the original image, but couldn’t find the photographer to ask permission. Instead, you’ll have to click here to see what all the fuss is about.

[Source: The Record, University of Waterloo | Image: University of Waterloo]

Report: University shuts down Formula SAE program over racy photo originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: University shuts down Formula SAE program over racy photo”

Report: Saudi university to start $500 million carmaking enterprise

Filed under: Middle East

King Saud University Gazal-1

King Saud University Gazal-1 – Click above for a high-res image gallery

Few took them seriously when the students of King Saud University unveiled their first design in Geneva last March. But the Saudi institute of higher education is reportedly putting their plans to begin producing their own line of automobiles into high gear.

According to Reuters, the project is being undertaken by the university’s investment arm, Wadi al-Riyadh Technology, with technical and financial support from an as-yet undisclosed South Korean firm. Could Hyundai/Kia be behind the effort? Hard to say, but whoever it is, they’re tipped to be putting up 30 percent of the cash, in addition to the technical know-how. The university is set to put in as much as 15 percent of the capital needed, while the rest is reportedly being offered to outside investments. Altogether, the project is budgeted at $500 million.

The outfit’s first vehicle will reportedly be “an economic car suitable for local use,” as opposed to the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen-based SUV concept pictured above. Spokespeople say they hope to offer the vehicle in other countries in the region, including the Gulf emirates and North African countries.

The development is peculiar for a number of reasons, namely that (a) Saudi Arabia, though the largest economy in the Arab world, is not known as an automobile producing or exporting country, and (b) most cars are not built by universities. Still, if any country has the oil money to pull it off, it’s surely Saudi Arabia.

Gallery: Geneva 2010: King Saud University Gazal-1

[Source: Reuters]

Report: Saudi university to start $500 million carmaking enterprise originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Saudi university to start $500 million carmaking enterprise”

Ohio State University’s Buckeye Bullet claims another electric speed record

Filed under: Motorsports, Specialty, Electric

2010 Ohio State University Buckeye Bullet – Click above for high-res image gallery

As they have for the past several years, the kids from Ohio State University made the trek out to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this month to see how fast they could go without emitting any pollutants. The Buckeye Bullet has always been electrically driven, but in past years the juice for the motors was provided by hydrogen fuel cells. In 2009, a fuel cell-powered Bullet set an FIA two-way land speed record of 300.992 miles per hour. This year, OSU has teamed up with Venturi, the Monaco-based maker of very few electric vehicles, and transformed the Buckeye Bullet 2 into a test mule for an all-new 2011 car.

The fuel cells have now been replaced by lithium-ion batteries from A123 Systems and, after several days of aborted runs and wind-storms, the team finally got in two clean passes Monday afternoon. On the first run, the Bullet traversed the flying mile at 286 miles per hour. After repacking the parachute and turning the car around, the students watched as the car sped by in the opposite direction at 297 mph for a two-way average of 291 mph and, yet again, a new battery-powered vehicle record.

Gallery: 2010 OSU Buckeye Bullet

[Source: BangShift]

Ohio State University’s Buckeye Bullet claims another electric speed record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Ohio State University’s Buckeye Bullet claims another electric speed record”