Many Firsts for FRUCD to Start 2026
January 2026 Newsletter
FRUCD is racing flat out into the new year. In the opening stages of the 2026 winter quarter, we have been hard at work across all our subteams.
Our February crowdfund, Fueling our Way to Competition, is underway. Donations from this crowdfund provide far-reaching support for the team. This includes our priority of sending our FRUCD members to compete at Formula SAE Michigan. Beginning on June 16th and ending on June 20th, this competition serves as a tremendous opportunity for club members to gain industry-level feedback and grading criteria from professionals in relevant fields of study. FRUCD strives to safeguard our members from the burden of out-of-pocket travel expenses. Participation is limited due to our current budget and growing team. If you want to show your support in helping more of our members attend this enriching experience, a donation of any size is greatly appreciated. Join us in making this experience possible.
All donations are tax-deductible. We are thankful to our recent patrons who have helped us reach 12% of our goal.
In other business news, progress on our livery design is heating up. We look forward to sharing FRUCD’s fiery new look for FE13.
Special Announcement:
Love cars, motorsports, and want to meet new friends? Formula Friday might be the place for you. On Friday nights at 7 pm, Dr. Ian Korf opens his sim racing rigs exclusively for FRUCD Members to test their driving skills, learn iconic tracks, and race against fellow teammates. Join the HPD-LAB Discord Server using the link below for news, info, updates, and times for Formula Fridays (Sometimes Thursdays).
Suspension has welded the tabs for the anti-roll bars (ARBs) onto the chassis. Both front and rear tabs are connected to the chassis. This will be the first time in FRUCD history that our car will feature anti-roll bars, a massive milestone for suspension tuning.
Electrical has begun preliminary testing on our printed circuit boards (PCBs), checking for power, programmability, and the functionality of new circuits. They have also started assembling the wiring harness off the car, using RapidHarness and the CAD model of the chassis to estimate lengths and organize bundles. Impressive work.
Wheel Package is working through the manufacturing phase. They have successfully manufactured two of the four uprights and are preparing for assembly on FE13. Stay tuned.
In January, the Chassis subteam completed manufacturing work on the chassis five weeks ahead of last year, thanks to a teamwide undertaking to finish it as early as possible. This process took just 57 days, becoming the fastest-built chassis in team history. The initial weigh-in for the chassis before powdercoating saw a 2.2 lb. weight reduction over FE12, thanks to many minor modifications to the chassis and tabs that enabled a weight savings despite the total number of tabs increasing since last year. FRUCD is grateful for the continued support of Lux Powder Coat, which will be powder coating our chassis again this year. In the coming weeks, the team plans to test the torsional stiffness of the FE12 and FE13 chassis in anticipation of this year's design event.
For the months of December and January, Aerostructures has started manufacturing its aero package, notably getting all the tabs welded onto our chassis. Aerostructures was also able to host 2 special design reviews, the first being aero-specific and the other being composites-specific. They were able to get excellent feedback from industry professionals that can be applied to competition and material testing. Composites was able to start layup tests and production of some parts, such as the front panel, nose cone, and dash. Aerodynamics has begun finalizing the drag reduction system (DRS) design and prototyping, in addition to working on aero maps for the car relating to its yaw: The car's rotation around its vertical axis.
