Rouelle Optimum G seminar at FS Germany

[Gmuze]

Hi Steve,

Unfortunatly I couldn't join the team on their trip to MIS. I was in Holland keeping my fingers crossed for a good result.

The reason I signed up for the seminar is because I do expect to learn a lot. I'm not worried about that. The reason FSAE delivers so many different cars is partly because of all the different opinions on how to tackle design problems. I was just wondering if there were any people that would handle design problems differently than Claude would. Their probably are, but that has little to do with how educational/satisfying the seminar is. Perhaps my choice of words has been confusing/misleading.

Eventhough I haven't worked on the design of this years car, I will be joining the team at Hockenheim. Perhaps we can have a little chat about the car outside the design event.

Regards,
Gabriel

[Steve Fox]

Gabriel,

Claude's seminars are full of different people with all different ideas & opinions. Claude does a wonderful job of explaining why idea X or idea Y works better than say idea A or idea B. He is NOT your ordinary lecturer , that insists on skinning the cat the same way every time. He is very open minded, and will explore all different (right OR wrong) ideas with you in class. That is where a lot of the extra margin notes, for your book, really come from.

I would love to talk to you and your team outside the design tent. I am really looking forward to seeing your new car. Oh by the way, you don't mind if I bring Claude along, when I visit, do you? He might even have a new joke or two!

[Steve Fox]

At the risk of starting to sound like a one man cheering team for Optimum G (Claude doesn't even pay me to write this. Honestly! ), I will share a letter that I received recently. This is from the Faculty Advisor of the Michigan State University Formula SAE team. He hosted the Optimum G seminar that immediately followed the FSAE-VIR event in June. I could not put it any better than Professor Cloud:


To: Steve Fox
RE: Optimum G Seminar by Claude Rouelle

Dear Steve:

I am excited to hear that you are encouraging Claude Rouelle of Optimum G to present his seminar on vehicle kinematics and dynamics in diverse venues so that more FSAE & FSG students can take advantage of this outstanding training opportunity.

As you know, Claude gave his seminar here at Michigan State University following the FSAE-East competition, at VIR, in June 2008. Below are my observations about the content and value of his program.

This seminar is actually a very intense short course. Monday and Tuesday went 12 hours with only short breaks. Wednesday lasted close to 14 hours. In other words nearly 37 hours of instruction, approximately a full college course equivalent, presented in 3 days. This is high-level material. If I had to classify it in a few words I would say it is multi-body kinematics and dynamics applied to very complex problems in systems where there are few clear-cut answers.

Claude is internationally famous for his experience, his intensive research, his racing success, his knowledge, his energy, his care for young people, and his ability to teach. He offers the training program about 25 times per year. When he gives the seminar to people from Toyota, Ferrari, and so on, the cost per seat is huge. He gives the same program to Formula SAE students after the major competitions at a greatly reduced rate because he is dedicated to teaching young people about engineering and life in general.

I sat in on a few hours of the sessions and can attest to Claude's success in this program. He is a master. Would that all our professors had his knowledge base and teaching skill.

Two of my own team members attended the full seminar. Their enhanced understanding was immediately apparent in that the team performed at a much higher level at the following FSAE-West design competition. These team members will return next year and I expect significant improvements in suspension design as a result of knowledge gained through the seminar.

Gary Cloud
Ph.D., P.E., FSEM, FInstP, CPhys., CSci.
University Distinguished Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Michigan State University
Faculty Advisor
MSU Formula SAE Racing Team


There you have it! "...nearly 37 hours of instruction, approximately a full college course equivalent, presented in 3 days." It doesn't get any better than that!

[RiNaZ]

and that is why i think anybody who's going to his seminar should brush up or learn as much as possible about vehicle dynamics.

There are more international teams participating in FSAE now, and if you're going to Claude's seminar, you should learn the terms as best as you could. Sometimes, there are terms that are commonly used like jounce or droop that are probably not familiar with the international people.

It is intense but fun for sure. I remember holding my pee until break time so i wont miss out on the important points.

I always felt that Claude's seminar solve 2 diseases that i had, insomnia and ADD (attention deficit disorder). I have always had trouble concentrating even for 10 mins, but at Claude's seminar, I was able to focus for 12 hours. And by the time i got back from the seminar, my mind was so tired, i went straight to bed when on a regular night, i can only sleep for 2 hours at the most before i wake up.

just thought i'd share that with you guys

[ben]

He did force-based roll centres

And we definitely paid for the jokes

Good luck to all at Silverstone at the weekend. I'll be around on Friday if anyone wants to talk tyres.

Ben

[J.R.]

I am new to the suspension game, and unfortunately I missed the seminar after MIS. I have been looking into getting grant money from my school to go to another seminar, but I can't seem to find any information about seminars other than the one at Hockenheim. Are there plans for any other seminars in the US during the academic year? Thanks!

[mangel83]

Does anyone knows if the camping site will be held open during the seminar days?

[screwdriver]

Are any more details available yet?