Navy Formula SAE Racing Team
USNA builds leaders through engineering
29 January 2015
While some college students are conducting months of research, interning at non-profits, or writing and filming public service announcements for their capstone projects, one group of midshipmen is working to bring their Navy Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) team racing car to the finish line.
Every year as the junior class moves on to become seniors, they will complete a thesis or what the US Naval Academy refers to as a capstone project. They start with absolutely nothing and they build a race car. They go through the whole design process - manufacturing, production, testing and ultimately competing in high-performance, open-wheel racing.
"To me the best one (capstone project) available here is the formula car team," said Midshipman 2nd class Christopher Hamilton.
Hamilton is only a third year midshipman and leads a team of juniors that want to learn about the project before they get to build their own car when they become seniors.
"One thing that is different with this capstone project compared to others is that this actually helps us as we graduate and head to the fleet," said Hamilton. "Yes, we get a lot of training at Bancroft hall but here on this team we actually apply it."
Christopher's father, Leonard J. Hamilton, is a mentor of this formula racing team and a retired Navy captain, former F-14 pilot and a USNA instructor. Leonard is no novice to the engineering field; he too is a graduate of the mechanical engineering department from USNA.
"The primary thing I want them (students) to pick up from this course is leadership skills," said Leonard. "I want them to make decisions; I want them to run the schedules, to run the budget."
It is relatively easy to make a paper design, but when you actually have to put it into action, cut the metal, weld the metal, put the parts together, integrate and have to overcome some obstacles in the process, that's what the program is all about, said Leonard.
"From a pure leadership standpoint, truly this is a leadership lab for them," said Leonard. "They think they're building a car, they're actually building engineering leaders out of themselves."