2018/2019

As suspension lead and only member of the suspension team for the 2018 season, I was tasked with designing every suspension component on the car. In the previous three years, the vehicle had performed poorly due to fragile suspension components that were designed to be lightweight and not rigorously tested before competition.

I decided to rework the suspension from the ground up by moving to mostly welded steel components that were manufacturable in-house and compatible with off-the-shelf backup components. This allowed me to prototype every component in house and test on a testing vehicle before moving forward with full production. The simple welded-steel geometry of most components allowed us to keep to an aggressive schedule and leave more room for on-car testing.

I was able to learn about designing and manufacturing dimensionally accurate welded components and also got to hone my welding skills along the way. The increased serviceability, manufacturability, and durability in the suspension helped contribute to an 8th place finish in California.