Aztec Electric Racing
Aztec Electric Racing enhances collegiate education with hands-on learning through the design, manufacturing and marketing of a Formula 1 style electric race car. These cars are built within 9 months to compete against collegiate teams from around the world.
In the 2019-2020 season, Aztec Electric Racing (AER) has triumphed and reached critical landmarks for the team and the school. In October, AER competed in Riverside against local collegiate teams and won 1st place. In the following months, with the help of their sponsors, AER would purchase their 1st jig table, receive their very own trailer, from longtime supporter Bay City Electric Works, to transport the car to competitions, and receive a donation from 3M for tools and supplies. Valued at over $7,500, the 3M supplies included safety equipment such as glasses and gloves, tools and consumables such as epoxies, which students will use to learn about hands-on manufacturing and how to design for manufacturing while completing the latest vehicle from AER.
In the spring, came the completion of AER’s latest chassis which was redesigned, fabricated, and assembled by seniors in the capstone program. This follows a previous senior design collaboration of a full electric accumulator which currently energizes the vehicle. Even though SAE canceled the in-person racing events for 2020, AER continues their hard work and is using the new chassis coupled with other engineering enhancements for their upcoming vehicle for the next SAE competition.
In addition, with the help of their newest partner, Siemens, students will have access to the latest cutting-edge engineering applications. The team will utilize the Siemens Computer Aided Design, Fluid Dynamics, Element Analysis programs and more to validate and optimize designs to be efficient and powerful.
The team also continues to strive for individual and team growth. Alumni of the team have gone on to work for major electric car companies such as Tesla and Rivian. The latest is Emily Bidgood, who was on the senior design chassis team and a key leader in AER. Emily landed a position at Rivian after graduating this year. Rivian was very impressed with her work on the ME Senior Design AER chassis project.
Our SDSU AER team membership goes beyond engineering students by including other majors including from business. Moreover, AER is collaborating with fellow student organizations to build the next generation of business leaders in addition to engineers. In future years, the AER team will continue to develop and enhance the learning experience of students at SDSU.
As the 2020-2021 season begins, Aztec Electric Racing has set their goal to become the best electric racing team in all of SAE. They will again collaborate with senior design, and this year the focus will be a new innovative design for thermal management of the car’s battery pack. AER as a team will continue to empower students with new skills and push for an electrifying future.
