UBC Formula Electric
Frame Design (Year 3)
In my third year on the UBC Formula Electric team, I was promoted to team lead. I designed and optimized the frame in SOLIDWORKS, working with structural analysis to ensure it met all safety and performance requirements while minimizing weight. Close collaboration with the suspension, powertrain, and manufacturing teams ensured seamless integration and fabrication.
What
- Led end-to-end design of an FSAE electric vehicle chassis frame
- Owned safety, packaging, and manufacturability decisions as Chassis Team Lead
- Managed a 7-person chassis subteam, delegating tasks and overseeing the project timeline
How
- Designed the space frame in SOLIDWORKS, iterating tube geometry for stiffness-to-weight
- Developed Python scripts to calculate forces under various braking and cornering load cases for torsional rigidity simulations in ANSYS Mechanical
- Coordinated interfaces with suspension, powertrain, and battery subteams to ensure packaging requirements were met
Results
- Achieved an FSAE rules-compliant chassis with improved packaging over the previous year's vehicle
- Enabled downstream manufacturing and on-schedule vehicle integration for the 2026 competition
Skills
- SOLIDWORKS
- Python
- ANSYS Mechanical
- Structural Analysis
- Design Leadership