Using Motorsports Design Concepts to Further STEM Education

Abstract

Few career paths are as dynamic, exciting, and engaging to potential Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students as those in motorsports. Secondary school students, looking forward to their initial driver’s licenses and their first cars, are captivated by the speed and color of the sport. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), which offers the first Bachelor’s Degree in Motorsports Engineering in the United States, has found motorsports to be an excellent mechanism for attracting STEM students, of both genders, regardless of demographic background. This article will discuss how this connection has been used to promote STEM growth. Introduction IUPUI has developed a program involving both Motorsports Engineering (Hylton, 2008) and Motorsports Engineering Technology (Hylton, 2007). With the rapid growth of academic motorsports programs, and the demonstrated interest by secondary school students who are investigating potential collegiate programs, it became clear that use of the technologies involved in motorsports was an excellent mechanism for engaging these students in STEM education. Concepts related to driving a race car or working on one were initially developed as components of broader pre-engineering curriculum modules associated with a summer camp (Campbell & Hylton, 2005) for students from low socioeconomic status and minority households. The concept of the friction circle, as shown in Figure 1, was introduced as a means of determining the limits of a car’s ability to travel around a corner at speed. The circle represents the limit of traction force that a race tire can supply. The tire’s capabilities can be used to supply forward acceleration, braking deceleration, lateral acceleration during cornering, or a combination of these. However, there is a limit to the traction force available from the tire, which results from its friction coefficient and the portion of the vehicle load that it is carrying. This limit is represented by the circumference of the circle. The vector combination of the forces on the tire cannot exceed the overall limit of the tire’s capabilities. Thus when the fore-aft (acceleration or deceleration) and lateral (sideways) force vectors are combined, the resultant must stay within the circle. Covertly, the objective of introducing the friction circle into the classroom module was to demonstrate the concept of vector math and to instruct students on how to use it. By using the theme of motorsports as a conveyance of STEM topics, the material was readily accepted by the students and they rose to the challenge. Motorsports Concepts In Curriculum In another example, students were challenged to develop an understanding of forces, couples, and moment arms. A torque wrench, like that used by the mechanics on a racecar, was utilized. This gave the students an opportunity to see how work was completed on the university’s racecar. In addition, it provided the opportunity for students to see how the angle of application of a force, and the resulting moment arm, affect the amount of torque created by a given force application. The ability to use a mechanical advantage to lift a car via a purely mechanical jack used by many race teams was also incorporated into these classroom modules. Also, for female students who had difficulty realizing that sometimes male students are physically stronger, this showed that (with help) even the smallest T h e J o u rn a l o f Te c h n o lo g y S tu d ie s Using Motorsports Design Concepts to Further STEM Education