The NUS Formula SAE race car project was started in 2001, when a group of enterprising third year engineering students dreamed of building a race car for participation after their graduation in the intervarsity FSAE competition, held every May in Michigan, USA. This competition attracts more than a hundred universities from all over the world, each showcasing a new car built by their own FSAE team. While it started life in this manner, the project has evolved into an important educational component of the NUS Engineering Programme. It now comes under the umbrella of the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC) which is overseen by the Faculty of Engineering. At the FSAE competition in USA, our car and team represent NUS and Singapore, as we are the only participating team from this region.

For this competition, often regarded as the toughest inter-varsity competition, students have to build a Formula race car from scratch, something akin to what Formula One does, albeit on a smaller scale. The whole competition takes place over several days, during which each university is judged on its race car design, safety, fuel economy, acceleration, handling, endurance, drive-ability and value-for-money. The car specifications must conform to all the rules in the FSAE rule book which exceeds 100 pages.

Every year, the Faculty Advisor Prof Seah Kar Heng selects about 8 second year engineering students out of a pool of up to 70 undergraduate applicants to form the new team. These students are given special evening classes on race car principles and engineering, as well as hands-on training in machining, fitting, welding, composites manufacture and other workshop techniques. They also learn from their seniors how to design and build a race car. They build one car in their third year as their third year design project, and another in their final year as their final year project. All NUS FSAE students double up as race drivers during the competition, before which they are given drivers’ training. Each student gets at least two chances to compete in USA.

Formula SAE is an annual inter-varsity competition organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers in which undergraduate students design and build Formula-style (open-wheeled and open cockpit) race cars and race in them.

Professor Seah Kar Heng
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National University of Singapore
Office: 65162220
HP: 97667090

Mr. Lim Hong Wee
Office: 6516 2220

Mr. Andrei Everard Teo Wee Ming
Office: 6516 5735