News

West Virginia University's Mountaineer Racing team recently received a $30,000 award from the DENSO North America Foundation in support the development of an engine dynamometer testing facility. The facility will be used to test and tune the team's racing engines. 

The team submitted a proposal to the DENSO Foundation seeking funding to build an engine and powertrain dynamometer that will benefit WVU’s Formula SAE and Baja SAE teams. The proposal included a problem statement describing the team’s need for a suitable engine testing facility, the goals and objectives of the project, a timeline for completion of the work and detailed budget.

Interning at the right places has turned into and offer of employment for one West Virginia University senior.

Upon graduation in December, Mark Ziegler, a mechanical and aerospace engineering major from Glen Allen, Virginia, will officially join the team at Roush Fenway Racing in January 2019, working as an aerodynamics design engineer, working mostly with RFR’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series cars.

Rooster Hall Racing team owners Todd and Michelle Brown had a great idea this past winter to include college students with their Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car road racing effort in 2018.

Now, this idea isn’t new in the motorsports world as students have worked annually with various racing teams throughout North America. But the Browns wanted to work directly with a college program that would promote the Rooster Hall Racing team through its students’ involvement.

The latest gift from longtime West Virginia University supporters Dan and Betsy Brown will help fund activities related to the WVU Formula SAE racing team in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. The significant donation will be used by the WVU Formula SAE team in preparation for 2019 competition.

Currently, the team is partnered with Rooster Hall Racing of Louisa, Virginia, owned by the Brown’s son and daughter-in-law, Todd and Michelle Brown. RHR is providing two internships to WVU students this year as it competes in the Pirelli World Challenge Series.  

Mark Ziegler, a  mechanical and aerospace engineering major from Glen Allen, Virginia, and Justin Moser, a mechanical engineering major from Lorton, Virginia, will have the unique opportunity to travel the country with RHR participating in all six touring car races in the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Series.

The RHR team and driver Johan Schwartz, who recently set the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous car drift in a BMW, will rely on the student interns to acquire performance data during each race from their WVU-branded BMW M235i touring car. Between races, the students will analyze and compare the collected data with driver feedback to make adjustments in an attempt to increase the vehicle’s performance throughout the season.