From FSAE to the fast lane

Many car enthusiasts dream of joining the racing industry, but the track to getting there can be nebulous to navigate. For MechSE alumnus Brian Smith (BSME 2019) a sportscar racing simulation engineer at Cadillac Racing, the answer lies in a combination of academic pursuits and Formula SAE. 

While the classroom experience of a degree in mechanical engineering undoubtedly played a significant role in Smith’s career, his involvement in Illini Motorsports (IM) Formula SAE (now Illini Electric Motorsports) helped lay the foundation his career path. He was a member of the IM team throughout his time at Illinois and ultimately became the suspension subsystem lead in 2018.

“The friends I made there played an important role in getting me my first job at Ford after graduating in 2019,” Smith said. From IM, he gained technical knowledge and connections that would benefit him later in his journey. 

After graduation, Smith began working in the Ford College Graduate rotational program. This exposed him to diverse temporary roles in the automotive industry, including a vehicle dynamics role in motorsports. This role helped Smith realize how much he enjoyed working in the racing industry and allowed him to gather the experience needed to get a full-time job at Cadillac Racing.  

In his current role as a Sportscar Racing Simulation Engineer, Smith performs offline lap simulations for the Cadillac V-series R racecar to generate valuable data that teams can use to make quick decisions during races. He also performs studies to analyze potential improvement areas and evaluate how the car will behave if one component or another is changed.

“This can be useful to validate a new idea we might have for race strategy or to quantify the potential gain from a given project to help us decide which areas are most worth spending time on,” Smith said of his analytical work. 

For Smith, the most enjoyable part of his role is being involved with all parts of the car. The simulation model encompasses all subsystems, so he works with various engineers to make sure the model is as representative as possible. He also performs studies on many different components that allow him to directly impact the car and understand the team’s decision-making, both during development and on the track. 

“The Formula SAE team gave me tons of applicable experience both in terms of design and manufacturing,” he said.

Smith’s hands-on experiences in FSAE have stuck with him ever since. For his current job, he had substantial background knowledge related to simulation tools and modeling of complex systems because “in Formula SAE, we used industry-grade software to design the car.” His academics also proved very useful throughout his time with FSAE, as he occasionally referred to notes from dynamics courses when trying to figure out how to model different parts of the car. Ultimately, combining theoretical knowledge and practical application proved to be a winning formula in the competitive job market. 

For current students hoping to join the racing industry, Smith recommends seeking out racing experience, whether through a formal internship or informally through a club or RSO.

“Join an SAE team – Formula, Baja, or any that piques your interest – because that experience translates directly to professional racing,” he said. “It puts you in a high-intensity work environment and teaches you what’s important for a successful race team, which is something you can’t really learn in classes.”

Smith’s career journey is a testament to the power of passion and practical experience. Aspiring engineers can turn their automotive dream into a reality on the racetrack by actively engaging in extracurricular activities and seeking opportunities to apply their knowledge.