Formula Hybrid 2010: Come out and Volunteer!

This year marks the 5th year that the Formula Hybrid competition will be
held. NER has been involved since the beginning providing equipment and
personnel to this great event. With its blend of engineering education, on
track action and environmental responsibility it not only breeds better
engineers, but also introduces them to the world of grass roots motorsports.
I'm a prime example. My freshman year of college I was taken to my first
autocross and raced a car built for the older sister program Formula Hybrid,
Formula SAE. I became an SCCA member at that event and this fall received my
10 year membership pin.

The 2009 event was very successful with the number of teams attending
increasing substantially over 2008 despite the tough economy. The quality of
the vehicles improved dramatically with many of the teams being experienced
from years past. While still being in a difficult economic situation,
registration for the event this year is about the same as last year and
again many of the teams are returning. I anticipate another jump in the
teams' designs, build quality and preparedness.

This years Competition will once again be held at NHMS and be hosted by
Dartmouth College of engineering. It's scheduled to run from May 3 to 6 and
as in past years we're looking for volunteers to help make this event
successful. Although there is an extra day in the schedule and volunteering
any of the 4 days will be appreciated, the bulk of the help is needed on the
final 2 days. These are the days when the cars are actually on track
competing in "dynamic events" and the experience of NER members running
grids, flagging and handling timing help the most. I've included a short
description of each dynamic event and some links to more information below.
Lunch is provided for all volunteers and there's a BBQ hosted by Dartmouth
on Wed. If you're interested in helping out for even just part of day
contact me at daveh729@gmail.com.

Thanks in Advance,
Dave Hyman
NER Solo Equipment Manager
2010 Formula Hybrid Dynamic Events Captain

Acceleration (Morning Wed. May 5): The acceleration event is, in short, a
solo drag race. Cars run down a 75m course from a standing start in both
"electric only" and "full hybrid mode" Teams have a maximum of 4 runs.
Positions needed are Starter, Grid and Timing.

Autocross (Afternoon Wed. May 5): The autocross is very similar to SCCA Solo
events only the minimum gate width is significantly tighter. All of the
normal worker assignments need to be filled: Grid, Timing, Starter, and
course workers.

Endurance (Thurs. May 6): The endurance event is a 22km event that includes
a pitstop for a driver change half way through. While still a course through
cones like the autocross, the course is opened up a bit. There are multiple
cars on course at the same and controlled passing by the use dedicated
passing zones. The passing is done under full marshal control so a blue
flagger and green flagger at every zone to flag cars in and out. Worker
positions include starter, passing zone marshals, course workers, and grid.
The Event organizers handling timing and scoring this with their transponder
system, but I'm sure they'll be open to some experienced help if anyone is
interested.

Here are some links to more information:
Formula Hybrid Website
2010 Competition
2010 Schedule of Events (PDF)
2010 Rules
Formula SAE Website