Sparking progress

Temple Formula Racing makes history at Michigan competition with team's first female driver behind the wheel.

student in lab

Temple Formula Racing finished 29th overall and 17th in the endurance event out of about 100 teams at the recent Formula SAE competition in Brooklyn, Michigan. This represented the best overall result in the team’s history, thanks to some key changes.

The students designed a car with a smaller 10-inch wheel package in 2021 compared to the previous 13-inch wheel, and this year they shrunk its track width by 10 inches and its wheelbase to the minimum length.

The team also pursued a renewed emphasis on inclusion, welcoming mechanical engineering major Lillian McEachen as the first female driver in team history.

“Being behind the wheel at competition, driving the car that you made was truly rewarding,” Lil said. “You see a whole different perspective of everything you've been working for the past three years, so it was a pretty cool experience.

A show poster for Kellar
A show poster for Kellar

“​​We still have to keep improving ourselves just like we're improving our engineering. If you don't have that huge missing piece, like girls on the team or girls' voices being heard on the team, then you're going to really lose out on engineering ability because you're only going to see it from one perspective: a male's perspective.” - Lillian McEachen

“Where does it get its power?

Meet Lil McEachen

 Lillian McEachen joined Temple Formula Racing with no background in cars or motorsports, but rather a passion for engineering. This year, she served a key role in leading the team to victory with her engineering work and leadership as their first female competition driver in Formula SAE Michigan.

Lil, a senior graduating in Fall 2022, became involved with TFR in her freshman year. She started in the powertrain subsection to gain an understanding of the car’s mechanics. “I gotta know how this car moves, where it gets its power,” said Lil.

The more she learned, the further she moved on the team. She became the suspension subsection co-lead and helped lead the powertrain subsection through competition, a deeply involved member of the team.

Lil’s work ethic was an undeniable component in being chosen as a driver for the team. This role involves maintaining consistent communication with the team, making sure the car is safe to drive and, of course, driving in the competition.

There are drivers for each of the four driving events in Formula SAE Michigan: endurance, autocross, skidpad, and acceleration. Lil was the driver for the acceleration event, which involves a straight drive pushing the car’s speed to the limit.

Driving in the competition meant a lot to Lil because she was able to see all the team’s hard work in engineering the car pay off. She hopes to see more women offered leadership positions as new students and opportunities cycle through the team.

“We're getting better as our car is getting better and then we're also getting better as a team,” said Lil. “We need diversity across the board, but I think that's going to keep coming as we're working harder.”

Building better every year

Inside the team’s performance at Formula SAE, Michigan

Students approach their car each year by building off the knowledge of what does and doesn’t work from previous years’ designs.

This year, they made significantly more changes than in the past.

The car is a non-aero design, meaning there are no wings, which makes attaining the fastest lap times more difficult and, in turn, the team’s results more impressive.

TFR finished among the top non-aero teams.

Technical inspection is where TFR demonstrated their problem-solving skills in a high-stress environment. As the team faced inspection failures, they worked together to develop quick solutions, exercising their engineering skills.

On the last Friday of competition, they passed static and dynamic technical inspections and were able to drive in autocross, acceleration, and endurance events.

With this year’s competition in the rearview, the spirit of continuous improvement remains, including updating the group’s constitution and welcoming new leadership.

Meet the hands behind the wheel

These are some of the section leads that keep the team moving.

Student in lab.

Bernadette Mooney

Composites Lead; Mechanical Engineering major

Student in lab.

Andrew Schenk

Electrical Lead, Electrical Engineering major

Owen McCarty

Suspension Lead; Mechanical Engineering major

Nathaniel Chin

Ergonomics Lead; Mechanical Engineering major

Not pictured: Joshua Schmidhuber, Manufacturing and Chassis Lead

Hear from the team

See how those section leads work together and why they joined Temple Formula Racing.

To learn more about student organizations at the College of Engineering, visit engineering.temple.edu/students/student-organizations.