The Supermileage Systems Enterprise is a student-led Advanced Motorsports Enterprise (AMS). Olivia Zinser, CEO of SSE, explained that the goal of the team is to “build a single-occupant, high-efficiency vehicle that competes every year in April.” When asked what the team’s biggest challenge this year has been, Zinser said that the competition the team normally attends was canceled. Because of this, the team had to join a new competition and get up to speed on the new competition rules in less than a year.
Olivia continued to say that “This means that all designs the team has completed so far would need to be reviewed and tested against a new rulebook. This challenge forced the team to think more outside of the box than ever and re-engineer almost every aspect of the new vehicle.” In April, the team will travel to Indiana to compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Despite the amount of work that needs to be completed, Zinser feels that the new challenge “is a blessing in disguise since the team can now work with the engine of their choosing instead of a Briggs and Stratton Junior 206, as the previous competition forced the team to only work with one engine.” Competition is quickly approaching for the SSE team. Many projects for the new vehicle have already been completed. However, But there is still work to be done before April. Zinser listed some of the new projects getting started this semester: engine integration, combustion analysis on our reduced displacement (RD) engine, RD oil leak investigation, vehicle shell general tasks, driver ergonomics, wheel guards, chain/drivetrain cover, heads-up display integration, and wiring the vehicle harness. She is optimistic that the team is prepared to take on the challenge and will perform well at the Shell Eco-Marathon competition in April.
Supermileage Systems Enterprise is taking applications from all majors. If you are interested in joining, you can apply on the SSE website.
