Northridge : CSUN Engineering Students Stage Race

Insert an element of old-fashioned competition into a homework assignment and you get a mini version of the Indiana 500 on the lawn of Cal State Northridge’s engineering school this weekend.

CSUN’s first annual freshman class model car competition Saturday started as a homework assignment in this year’s introductory engineering courses, but quickly turned into something bigger, said Felicia Davis, retention coordinator for the Minority Engineering Program. The program develops strategies for retention and recruitment of minority students. About 450 minority engineering students are enrolled.

“The students really want to win,” Davis said.

Davis said groups of students have spent the semester modifying and constructing the radio-controlled model cars as an exercise in real-world engineering projects. Some have insisted on keeping their projects shrouded in secrecy, and have met on weekends for months calculating ways to improve their car’s speed, maneuverability and acceleration for the contest. Others have recruited groups of elementary school children to act as cheerleaders for the races, she said.

The model car races will begin at noon Saturday on the lawn in front of the CSUN engineering building, and will be followed by a picnic. Both events are open to the public.

Jose Silveyra, an 18-year-old freshman from Canoga Park, worked with a group who developed an airplane rather than a car, and insists this innovation is fair play.

“Hopefully it will fly. It should fly,” said Silveyra, a little nervously. Silveyra said his group is still adjusting the wing angles and piecing the engine together, and hasn’t yet tested the Styrofoam creation.

Tim Fox, CSUN mechanical engineering professor, said the purpose of the project was to give students a taste of how engineers in industry work. Being able to work in groups is essential to professional success, he said, adding “engineers in practice spend 90% of their time communicating.”

CSUN’s Minority Engineering Program is a department of the School of Engineering and Computer Science. It was the first of 18 such departments in California.