Formula racing is speeding onto the Rowan campus. Through Rowan’s chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International), Rowan Motorsports has started its 16-team clinic to build their first Formula Electric (E) vehicle.
While this is not the first car Rowan Motorsports will build, it will be the club’s grand entrance into the scene that started it all back in the 1970s, Formula SAE. The club has competed in the off-road Baja SAE since 2002, but never touched Formula – though it was also hyped up in talks and whispers throughout the years.
Samuel Menaker, senior mechanical engineering major and project lead for the Formula E team, got his inspiration from his father building a Formula car in college.
“Growing up, I always knew this [Formula SAE] was a cool thing that you get to do in college,” said Menaker. “I want to do mechanical engineering. And when I’m in college, I want to do Formula SAE. So when I was looking through colleges…An SAE team was one of the metrics…And Rowan was the only school I applied to that didn’t, and I wound up going here. So that meant I had to start it, and then I did.”
Approximately two years ago, a few current members and now alumni wanted to try and race and build something other than Baja SAE. Seeing it as “the little brother” to Formula SAE, they wanted the on track race and not the off road endurance test.
“I’ve always just personally been an on-road guy. I like production cars. So production cars have always been my thing,” said Nick Pitschi, engineering entrepreneurship major and engineering lead for the Formula E team. “I just, I don’t want to say sophistication, because they’re both sophisticated in their own right, but I like tuning aspects of formula, you know, you got to account for every last bit of grip kind of thing.”
They hammered out and built a demo Formula E vehicle, choosing to build an electric Formula vehicle for the experience in what they see as the “future” and for the ability to bring in more types of engineers, like the four electrical engineers they have in their clinic.
Last spring, the demo revved up and took off. It was a club project approved by the engineering department and cost approximately $10,000 to build.
“That was a fun night. We were trying to get the car built for Motorsports day. It’s our yearly SAE event that we throw, and the car was like, pretty much ready to go,” said Pitschi. “But there were things we had to do the day before, and I ended up working on the car all night into the next morning. I didn’t sleep at all that day…I watched the car move for the first time at like, eight in the morning, before the event. I was like, ‘hell yeah.’ We can actually do this.”
The competition takes place in Brooklyn, Michigan, and is a networking event alongside a time trial competition observed by top companies in the field like General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler – it’s a must attend and compete for anyone who wants to work in the field.
Club members also understand the significance of attending and placing well, like Max Vodeb, junior engineering entrepreneurship major and chassis leader. His dream is to work in motorsports; his grandfather introduced him, and his grandfather was a racer.
“People that ‘know’ know that being part of the Society of Automotive Engineers is real hard work. And once you apply to jobs, people will notice that,” said Vodeb. “So I feel like you will get more chances in the future, and also for those who are passionate about motor sports. I mean, this is the best you can get from a school project.”
The goal for the club is to put tires to track and pass technical testing at the competition in Michigan. But for the lead members, it’s about leaving a legacy that the club can take on and perfect for years to come.
“I want to sort of put the team in a place where whoever my successor is once I graduate, sort of has the framework already in place where they don’t have to worry about a lot of this stuff that I’m worrying about,” said Menaker. “They can put all of their effort into making the car as good as possible…But the goal is to leave the team in a place where they’re sort of poised for success.”
SAE is open to all majors, and they are recruiting new members all year round, and they hope to be competing with their new vehicle late spring 2026.
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