Utah State University Mechanical Engineering students Gavin Morganegg, Nij Williams, Crystal Tingle and Parker Bellon figure out the steering mechanism on their soap box racer on April 14, 2023.
NORTH LOGAN – Utah State University College of Engineering students are gearing up for a race on Saturday. USU and North Logan City are holding their annual soapbox derby on Saturday, April 15 at noon. The race will be located at 1900 N. 2000 E. in North Logan.
Zach Humes, a Professional Practice Assistant Professor in the college of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said they extended invitations to area high schools and middle schools.
“We have a total of 12 entries and they will race two at a time, racing side by side,” Humes said. “Whoever finishes first will continue to race.”
North Logan City supports the race and helps with the set up including bales of hay used as barriers.
“We are expecting about 1,500 people and we have four food trucks coming,” he said. “We have a high school coming all the way from Price to compete.”
All of the race cars must meet given guidelines both for safety and design.
“We have several categories the cars will be judged on: the Fastest, Best Looking, Engineering Marvel, the best costume and the Cheapskate,” Humes said. “We will give out trophies to the winners of each category.”
The students were trying to finish their cars Friday afternoon, some where further along than others. Some will be at the Mechanical Engineering lab finishing up their cars into the night.
Zach Fraser, a sophomore Mechanical Engineering student from Orem, is the outreach team lead. He said they quit having the competition during COVID, but now they are back at it.
“This is the first year since COVID and we are trying to get it going again,” he said. “We have 45 students building five cars.”
There is a car built out of a shopping cart, one looks like a steam locomotive, another using a carbon fiber body shaped like a missile and one like a Baja Buggy.
Most of the cars are built with wood using plywood and 2X4’s. Some have bicycle wheels and some used small lawn mower wheels.
“We are using a straight track 900 ft. long. It’s close to the regulation size track,” he said. “We are working with North Logan City on getting the track ready. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The cars need to meet safety guidelines and have a breaking system. The drivers must wear a full face helmet and heavy-duty gloves.
The car must be gravity powered. No external energy sources such as gas engine, batteries, electrical components and the cars must be able to fit one person.
The students are part of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE).