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We want to inform you that we will no longer be attending the 2016 FSAE competition.
This is a result of an unfortunate miscommunication between our team and FSAE over the legality of our battery box. We were notified that our battery design was not rules compliant two weeks before competition. However, we are still completing our vehicle and plan to use it to optimize our car for next year’s competition.
Our vision to form a community of diverse students to promote renewable energy technology in transportation and create a campus organization that offers students hands-on engineering experiences has still been achieved. We have succeeded in doing this largely because of your help. We still plan to complete our vehicle and have it running by the end of this month. We decided to postpone production to prioritize studying for final exams and this new time line allow us to now commit all of our attention to the car.
Formula Slug began as three students with a vision and has transformed into a dynamic, powerful team through passion, dedication, and thousands of hours of hard work. We have learned a lot through our efforts and mistakes. We have come a long way, we will continue to grow stronger, and provide future students opportunities to develop skills and supplement their educations.
Formula Slug would also like to congratulate our graduating members for their contributions to the team, and wish them successful endeavors in the future.
Savion Ragster: Head of Crowdfunding and senior mechanical designer. Without Savion’s leadership during crowdfunding, we wouldn’t have had the funds to even get our car off the ground. Along with that Savion has contributed countless hours designing and TIG welding the car.
Handey Wong: Head of Formula Slug’s Photo and Video marketing. Handey provided most of the professional photography and video for the club. He also co-lead crowdfunding with Savion and lead the club during UCSC giving day competition.
Kelly Zhao: Founding member and Operations manager. Kelly laid the groundwork for the club’s organization. Her efforts behind the scenes allowed the club to establish great relationships between Zero Motorcycles and other sponsors.
Liam Burmester: A contributing member in Formula Slug’s Solar project. Our solar charging station to charge our vehicle would not be possible if it weren’t for Liam volunteering his time to design and build it.
Emily Svensson: A valuable member of Formula Slug’s operation team. Emily handled the budgeting and logistics of the team. Without her help the club’s finances would not be as impeccably managed.
Kevin Lebras: Founding member and head of Formula Slug’s Electrical Team. Kevin directed and provided the electrical team with advice and wisdom throughout the season. His leadership allowed Formula Slug to get through the struggles of ESF, and keep the car from catching on fire.
Peter Mercado: Founding member, FSAE Project Manager, and head of Solar. Peter is the team manager, he applied his strong interpersonal skills to manage the flow of information, timelines, and project goals. With his contributions, we were able to always remain strong and cohesive as a team.
Thank you for your support, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact us,
Formula Slug
We are still working hard to finish production of our electric vehicle in time for the Formula SAE competition in mid June, and now we have another fund raising opportunity that we would like you to know about. May 11th is UC Santa Cruz’s Giving Day featuring Formula Slug. We thank you so much for your previous gift to our project, and would like to ask you once again if you would be willing to help by contributing to our project for Giving Day during the short period of time that it is open from 7am to 11pm tomorrow May 11th.
People from across campus are activating their networks to ask for support for projects they are passionate about. The clock will be ticking as we see how much money our campus community can raise in just 24 hours.
Challenge money will be awarded on the following timeline:
$1,000 - Project with most donors from 7-8 a.m.
$2,500 - Project with the most donors from 12 p.m.-2 p.m.
$5,000 - Project with the most donors from 6-8 p.m.
$500 - Project with the most donors from 10-11 p.m.
$500 to the student-run project with the most donors at the end of the day
$10,000 challenge to be awarded to the project with the greatest number of donors at at the end of the day on May 11th!
This club was founded in 2014 with the mission to provide an all-inclusive space for students to apply their knowledge in real-world applications. In just 2 years, we’ve grown to become the largest FSAE team in the nation as well as the first team ever for UCSC. This growth was only made possible by our friends, families, and the community that have supported us in the past. Because of their support our team is able to gain valuable mechanical engineering experience that is absent in the school's curriculum, strive for a goal of completing a moving electric vehicle, and finally to build a diverse team where everyone has a part and everyone is treated like family. We are so close to accomplishing our goal, and contributing to our cause will allow us to continue to grow and become a positive influence. A positive influence to not only the members of this team, but to the community that made all of this possible.
We would love your support for us to continue in our endeavors.
Check out our project, https://ucsc.scalefunder.com/gday/giving-day/239/department/371, and select Formula Slug when you click “GIVE NOW”. Are you Game?
Below are some photos of what Formula Slug has accomplished because of the your support.
1. On April 30th, we displayed our project at a UCSC alumni event during which members of UC Merced's Formula SAE team visited and toured our lab.
2. On February 20, 2016 three members visited Mission Hill Middle School to teach and spread awareness of sustainable engineering.
3. On April 10, 2016 at Rusty's Workshop we taught newer members how to use various machines and built parts for the car.
These experiences were only made possible because of people like you who gave us the chance and opportunity to create something special here at UC Santa Cruz.
It’s the first week back for the spring quarter, but most of us at Formula Slug continued to work on our electric vehicle throughout spring break.
Our frame finally arrived during spring break and we have officially begun manufacturing. Over the break, we also bought most of our electrical, drivetrain, and suspension parts. These purchases and our ability to finish the car are entirely possible only because of your support! We are making progress toward finishing our car in time for for the competition.
In the pictures below are a few key items and special mentions:
1. Our frame is the main structural member of the electric vehicle. It is what all electrical and mechanical components bolt to and it provides a safe cell for the driver.
2. Our electric vehicle is powered by two Zero FX electric motors, which were kindly donated by Zero Motorcycles to our team. Thank you, Zero.
3. Thank you Tim Harrison for visiting the lab and giving us some tips on working with composite materials.
Amazing news! We have finally reached our crowdfunding goal of raising $15,000 yesterday. Thank you so much to all of you who have donated and shared our page. Without you, this could not have been possible. Crowdfunding concludes on Sunday, but in the last two days, donations are still accepted, and sharing our page helps us get more exposure.
If you have a moment, watch the last update video and check out Formula Slug's first crowdfunding blog post at: http://giving.ucsc.edu/crowdfundblog/
We just passed the halfway mark for our goal, and our goal is in reach. Recently we changed one of our perks, and now if you get to the $500 perk, you are able to sign the body paneling of our vehicle. We wanted to get our supporters more involved, and we realize how ridiculous the $1000 perk was. So if you have given and want to have your signature on what you have helped us create, you are more than welcome to continue contributing to our project. Once again thank you so much for all the support, but in order to make this a reality, we still need more help. So if you work for an eligible matching company, please match your gifts. Our tax ID number is: 23-7394590. You would be doing us a wonderful service by matching your gift and furthering our education and our team.
Whether you are giving because a relative is on the team or out of your own interest, we just want you to know that when this crowdfunding ends whether we reach our goal or not, we will always appreciate everything you have done for us. We have one more week until it ends, let's make history together and build the first electric vehicle on this campus!
Thank you to all those of you who have donated; your support is making this project possible! Please share our link wherever you can.
Thank you to everyone who has donated and shared our link; you have all helped us get one step closer to making our car. Watch the video to see the electrical team perform a motor spin test on one of our Zero electric motors.
For a $15 donation, you will receive a personalized thank you email from a team member detailing the current activities of our club and that specific team.
A member of our team will write a special thank you card to the donor detailing our progress, status, and what we are planning in our immediate future!
We just recently received lab space after searching for over a year and we are equally excited to share our success with our generous donors! For $150, you are invited to attend our general meeting and have a tour of our lab space.
You will receive a personalized signed photograph of the team as well as an invitation to our lab and meetings and a hand-written thank you card.
All perks below this level are included. You are invited to meet the team and take a photograph with us and sign the car's body paneling before the competition.
You are invited to the Formula Slug sponsors thank you day after we compete in June. There you'll have the opportunity to experience the car in person as well as all the perks below this level.
After attending a meeting with the team, you are invited to a group dinner with lead team members to learn more about the details of the vehicle, team, and process we've undergone. All perks below this level included.