ExxonMobil Donates $10,000 to Tiger Racing
February 25, 2008
On February 26, 2008, Port Allen ExxonMobil Lubricants plant manager Mark McLellan presented Tiger Racing a $10,000 donation. Tiger Racing is the LSU Mechanical Engineering (ME) department’s team for the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) open-wheel racing competition.
This gift makes ExxonMobil the title sponsor of Tiger Racing 2008, and the funding helps afford major costs such as wheels and tires. Another large cost is travel and lodging for the team to attend the Formula SAE race in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Team member Michael Morgan said, “We really would like to thank our sponsors; without them we would not be able to do all of this. A major cost is wheels, which cost about $2000. We also have so many other parts that don’t cost as much, but add up faster than you think.”
“This is a great way to take ideas from the classroom to a real world project to test all of the theories and concepts learned. We are proud to help a lasting project and a legacy for the mechanical engineering department. This is a great opportunity to for us to help promote it,” McLellan said.
The car takes about a year and a half to build and complete. Eight to ten months are spent in the design and planning stages, and then another four to five months are spent building. The entire car is built from the ground up, making for an elaborate senior design project.Along with the check, ExxonMobil also donated various oils and grease, which McLellan described as “the best lubricant that money can buy.”
For more information about Tiger Racing or how to support them, please visit their website at tigerracing.lsu.edu.
The Formula SAE competition this year is May 14-19, where over 120 universities will be competing. This will be only the third consecutive year that LSU has participated. Last year the LSU team finished 59th due to a chain failure, but they look forward to a more promising finish in 2008. “We’ve only been doing this about three years now, and we get better every year. The guys on the team come in here and work several hours every day, anywhere from about seven or eight in the morning until even ten at night,” team member Alex Hageman said.
Article and photos by Lee Jeffrey for the College of Engineering, 225-578-5706, mlavall@lsu.edu-30-
