Racing Across North America

Who Are We?

Panther Racing is the University of Pittsburgh's Formula SAE team. Formula SAE is an international collegiate racing series organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Formula SAE was established as a test of ingenuity and teamwork, providing students with the opportunity to design, build, and race formula-style race cars for both EV and IC competitions. Our main competition, Formula SAE EV, is a four-day competition at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI. Teams are evaluated on the egineering and business principles of their car design and presentation events while their car's quickness, agility, and longevity are tested in acceleration, skid pad, autocross, and endurance. In the 2024 Formula SAE EV Compeition, we competed against 77 other teams and achieved an overall finish of 9th place.

Since 1988, Panther Racing has represented the University of Pittsburgh as its student-led, collegiate-level formula racing team. We have a 36-year history of engineering excellence through participation in Formula SAE competitions where we design, manufacture, and compete a formula-style race car. We give students practical knowledge and experience, expanding on their classroom curriculum and preparing them for the business and engineering world while also fostering skills such as teamwork, leadership, project management, and communication. Our multidisciplinary team is one of the keys to our success. With over 80 members, 10 technical, and 4 business subteams, we have something for everyone. Our team has representation from the Swanson School of Engineering, the School of Computing and Information, the College of Business Administration, and more. 

What Is Our Project?

Every year, our team builds an open wheel formula-style race car from scratch. This includes items we make in house such as our accumulator and motorsport-grade wiring harness, as well as the specialized parts we outsource to get machined. As we select the redesigns to make each year, which will ultimately improve the performance of our car, we make those choices knowing that they come with a cost. We also plan to attend more competitions this year to optimize our car before we attend the competition in Michigan. We will make our way to Canada for the Toronto Shootout and plan for more testing dates. Attending competitions comes with the cost of registration, food, lodging, and truck rental, but attending these events gives more members the opportunity to see what a competition environment is like.

What Is Our Goal?

Our overall goal is to raise money to help fund our season. This could go to buying carbon fiber for the front wing, or steel tubing to weld our chassis, booking testing dates, and traveling to competitions. Our team is looking to build off of last year's success to improve our overall placing. 

Thank you for all your help and support!

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Contributions received for this project shall be used in accordance with the purpose described herein, the terms in the FAQs and applicable law. For questions that cannot be answered in the FAQs, please call 412-648-4658 or email engage@pitt.edu.