Car Teams: Current Activities
Hundreds of our undergraduates are involved in the campus’ multidisciplinary car teams, whose members are rooted in MechSE and The Grainger College of Engineering.
Academic Year 2022-23
Off-Road Illini: Baja SAE
Captain Kamden Damrow: "We are super pumped to implement our various design changes in an earlier manufacturing phase. This will allow us much more testing time so that we can greatly improve our competition results. We are also excited to see projects assigned throughout the whole team, as we have many that need to be done and a wealth of knowledge to pass on to underclassmen. This creates a phenomenal team culture with impeccable collaboration and camaraderie!”
General Meetings: Wednesdays 7:00 PM @ 103 Transportation Building
Contact: offroadillini@gmail.com
Eco Illini Supermileage
President Graham Campbell: “Last year, we returned to competition at the Shell Eco-marathon and SAE Supermileage Competition, scoring 3rd and 4th respectively with 652 MPG on track. This year, we are looking to finish our electric car that was postponed due to the pandemic and compete in the new Quebec Supermileage competition hosted by Laval University in June. We are also planning on designing an entirely new gasoline car build for competition in the Shell Eco-marathon with a goal of achieving 2000+ MPG. We will be improving our aerodynamic performance as well as reoptimizing our wheel rolling characteristics for the new vehicle.
It was great to see the team return to competition with our own vehicle and perform well. Even though we took 3rd and 4th, we saw clear areas of improvement for future car generations. We are also going to be using our new dedicated high-performance computer for aerodynamic CFD work, giving all members of our team access to industry-level simulation software.”
General Meetings: Monday 5:00-6:00 PM @ 314 Altgeld Hall
Workdays: Saturday 12–2 PM @ ESPL
Contact: grahamc3@illinois.edu
Solar Car
Director of Engineering Selis Yaltkaya: "We are in the process of designing our third-generation solar vehicle. As the team’s mechanical engineers, we are pushing our limits to try to build a 3-wheel solar vehicle that is as stable as a 4-wheel, which will increase our efficiency and take our team to a higher level than ever before.”
Visit their website to learn more information about the team and how to join.
Contact: hello@illinisolarcar.com
Illini EV Concept
President Stefan Sokolowski: “EV Concept is working on a lot of new and exciting technology this semester. Something new that I'm super excited about is our Risc-V embedded processor design. Our team is designing and implementing our own CPU architecture for use on our vehicle for embedded systems. We plan to accelerate our self-driving capabilities using this processor. It is a super exciting step in our club’s evolution and we would love to get more people interested. We are one of only a few clubs on campus currently working on logic design.”
Meetings: Saturday 12:00 PM @ Siebel Center for Design
Contact: stefans2@illinois.edu
Illini Formula Electric: FSAE Electric
President Alex Stevens: “Over the past few years, we have been working hard to redesign and transition our vehicle from a 2-wheel to 4-wheel drive system. This year, we are focused on optimizing and refining our designs, performing more tests, and validating our simulations. We are excited to produce an amazing competition car this year.”
Visit their website to learn more information about the team and how to join.
Contact: illiniformulaelectric@gmail.com
Illini Motorsports: FSAE
Business and Administration Lead Jaden Thompson: “Last year was Illini Motorsports' most successful year to date in over 40 years of history. The team took home its first win ever in May before returning in June to win in dominant fashion. This year will see an exciting change in suspension architecture, weight losses, and continued emphasis on driver ergonomics and performance throughout vehicle design and tuning.”
General Meetings: Thursday 6:00 PM @ 151 Loomis Lab
Contact: illinimotorsports@gmail.com
Want to support a team?
Your gift will directly impact the numerous MechSE undergraduates who participate and thrive on our car teams. (Make sure you select a specific team under the "Student Society Support" drop down menu.)