---
title: Building Speed
date: 2016-05-09T12:40:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/building-speed-adb77380-6063-4b10-b981-8d92b3277e38"
section: Articles
---
# Building Speed

*May 9, 2016* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)


*Racing thumbnail 230x200 — John T. Consoli*

BUZZING AROUND A HALF-BUILT CAR, Terps Racing members prepare for another season of high-performance competition against other universities. Dozens of students spend nights and weekends in J.M. Patterson Hall refining their vehicles—upperclassmen focusing on the more advanced Formula car (shown), and freshmen and sophomores building an off-road Baja-class car each year. Most members aren’t hard-core car fanatics at first, but Terps Racing alumni have gone on to score jobs with auto manufacturers and professional racing teams.

- Austin Kendall, president of the Terps Racing Formula team, reviews the master assembly of the Formula car before sending part designs to an automated machine for fabrication.
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- Students work on car designs as well as their homework in the Terps Racing Design Studio.
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- Before fabricating a part, Manasi Pukazhenthi calibrates the team’s CNC machine, capable of milling metal into complex shapes from computer-aided designs.
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- Matt Topelius sands down a custom carbon fiber seat before positioning it in the car.
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- A Terps Racing member welds suspension members together in the team’s headquarters in J.M. Patterson Hall.
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- Team member Ian Kelley fabricates components of the Formula car using a manual lathe.
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- The Terp Racing team’s 2011 Formula car darts around the endurance track at the FSAE West competition in California.
*W index banner*


**Tags:** [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)