It\u2019s pronounced \u201cPorsh-uh.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the name that represents the unattainable, the finest things in life. When you say it, you say it with reverence.<\/p>\n
Porsche.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the name that rolls off the tongue when you draw comparisons to what you want but you can\u2019t have. The car you dream of owning.<\/p>\n
For SAE teams, it also represented what could only be a dream\u2014until now.<\/p>\n
For the first time, Porsche has decided to sponsor an SAE team: The University of Florida\u2019s SAE team.<\/p>\n
SAE, which stands for the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a campus club in which university-level engineering students build their own vehicles and compete as representatives of their university.<\/p>\n
For UF\u2019s team, it\u2019s an opportunity to turn heads.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the prestige of Porsche\u2019s name attached will help attract other investment,\u201d said Neil Mason, UF SAE President. \u201cWe can also attract attention from other students at the university and help attract high school kids to engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sponsorship package includes: A monetary donation, the Porsche logo featured on the team\u2019s gear and a trip for three of the team\u2019s drivers to go to the Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham, Alabama.<\/p>\n
What the sponsorship does not include that you might assume: physical parts, Mason said. For example, Porsche won\u2019t be providing a car or an engine.<\/p>\n
Porsche doesn\u2019t make an engine small enough to fit into an SAE car, but more importantly SAE cars aren\u2019t cakes you buy from your favorite supermarket. They\u2019re built from scratch.<\/p>\n
UF has not won an SAE competition to date. They are hoping the sponsorship can help take them change that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an international competition,\u201d Mason said. \u201cThe best from around the world come to the competition we come to. Some of these technical universities around the world\u2014their students get a year off just to focus on SAE. Do you know what we could do if we got an entire year off just do SAE?\u201d<\/p>\n
Half of the competition is racing and driving. The other half is business.<\/p>\n
A mock presentation is required, where the students attempt to woo industry professionals with a business presentation based on selling their creations.<\/p>\n
Porsche believes they can help UF with that, and that UF can help the company reach a younger audience.<\/p>\n
UF students may not be able to afford Porsche vehicles today, but today\u2019s college students are tomorrow\u2019s Porsche owners, spokesman Aaron Ormond said.<\/p>\n
Though in the past, the company had received a number of solicitations from SAE teams for its sponsorship, it had never gotten involved.<\/p>\n
This year, things changed.<\/p>\n
The company is actively seeking a younger demographic amidst an aging population. With younger college students increasingly eschewing automobiles and seeking alternative transportation, the company decided it needed to reach out to a younger audience and re-establish their brand in the minds of the younger generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to create fascination for Porsche vehicles,\u201d Ormond said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about giving back to future generations. We want to make sure we\u2019re creating car fans of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new sponsorship will make its public debut at Formula SAE Michigan, held at Michigan International Speedway on May 8 through May 11.<\/p>\n
UF\u2019s most recent finish at this event was 19th out of 124 teams. The Gator SAE team holds the distinction of being the only SAE team to finish in the top ten three consecutive times. They did so in a stretch ranging from the 2005-2006 through the 2007-2008 seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s pronounced \u201cPorsh-uh.\u201d It\u2019s the name that represents the unattainable, the finest things in life. When you say it, you say it with reverence. Porsche. It\u2019s the name that rolls off the tongue when you draw comparisons to what you want but you can\u2019t have. The car you dream of owning. For SAE teams, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2592,"featured_media":6014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-templates\/single-sidebar-none.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"featured_post":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineering-education","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n