Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) is an international collegiate competition in which teams of university students design formula style race cars. The competition provides students with hands-on engineering experience and an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge onto real-world problems.

The Competition

Formula SAE competitions consist of 8 events: 5 dynamic and 3 static

A vintage race car with California Polytechnic Pomona branding and the number 81 on its side, speeding on a race track with a blurred background of safety barriers and track officials.

Dynamic Events

  • Measures the car’s acceleration over a course of 75m straight.

  • Measures the car’s maneuverability and handling through a series of turns and straights.

  • Measures the car's durability over a 22km race.

  • Measures the car’s energy efficiency by monitoring the energy use during the endurance event.

  • Measures the car’s cornering ability over a constant-radius turn over a figure 8 track.

Static Events

A group of men working on a green race car in a pit area, with some wearing jackets with logos, and a man in a white T-shirt with a graphic and text, at a racetrack during sunset.

  • Evaluates the team’s adherence to good design practices during the conception, iteration, integration, and validation of every subsystem in the vehicle.

  • Assesses the team’s ability to factor cost of production into the design of the car and solve production issues.

  • Assesses the team’s ability to compose a business case arguing that their car serves the needs of the amateur racing market.

Michigan 2025 Competition

  • Top-down view of a green and black race car with the number 89, driving on a track marked with yellow lines, casting a shadow on the asphalt.
  • Group of people at a professional event, with some wearing CAL POLY POMONA formula SAE shirts, engaging in discussion and holding clipboards and notebooks.
  • Students preparing a green race car on a dirt track during a daytime racing event, with team members around it and spectators in the background.
  • Three young men in outdoor casual clothing looking at a laptop screen at a racetrack on a sunny day.
  • A group of young people working on a small green race car at an outdoor event, with tents and other people in the background.
  • Two men working on a racing car, one holding a clipboard and the other inspecting the car's engine in a racing event.
  • Two race cars on a track seen through a chain-link fence, with cloudy sky and trees in the background.
  • Group of people standing in line at an outdoor event, with some looking at papers or screens, and a tent in the background.
  • A race car driver in a helmet and racing suit sitting in a green race car, talking with a mechanic who is leaning over the car during a race event on a sunny day.
  • Students working on a green race car with the number 89, surrounded by a team, in a paddock area.
  • Students preparing race cars in a paddock area during a racing event; two students working on the green race car and others attending to the orange race car, with equipment and team members around.