Kansas State University
As audiences race to the box office for this summer's blockbuster "F1," many might be wondering what it really feels like to be behind the wheels of the high-octane, precision-engineered Formula One cars featured in the movie. Most will never know. Kansas State University students, however, have the opportunity to design and drive a Formula-style vehicle through the Powercat Motorsports Formula SAE team, which just placed in the top five of an international competition.
Formula SAE is the world's largest and most prestigious design competition, with 13 international competitions and more than 700 active teams. Powercat Motorsports has proudly represented K-State at competition every year since 1997. The premise of the design series is to design, manufacture, test, race and present a fully functional, open-wheel, open-cockpit racecar.
K-State's team continued its streak of strong finishes at the group's largest national competition of the season, cracking the top five in the overall standings for the first time in club history.
Powercat Motorsports took fourth place out of 107 teams competing at Formula SAE Michigan and finished just 26 points out of third place, marking the group's best performance at this competition in more than 25 years of racing while continuing the team's ascendance into a perennial contender on the national stage. K-State also finished first among nine competing Big 12 teams at Michigan International Speedway this year.
"Although I have only been on the team for two years, I have seen the team take strides in both vehicle development and documentation to set us up for success in future years," said incoming club president Tyler Carlgren, senior in mechanical engineering, Overland Park. "Twenty-eight years of development have all come together to create the team we are now, and I can't wait to see what we do in the future."
During the past three years of competition, Powercat Motorsports has rapidly improved its finishes in the standings at SAE Michigan, taking 14th place in 2023 and cracking the top 10 for the first time last year. Fueling this year's strong finish was a 13th place in the skidpad competition and a 10th place in autocross that qualified the team for a great start to the endurance race. The team took care of business on the track, finishing in third place with a clean run by the team’s drivers, with no penalties for hitting cones or going off course.
Additionally, the team's rise in the standings can be attributed to strong finishes in the static events that occur off the track, including cost evaluation, business presentation and design. The business presentation subteam took third overall in its event after not previously making the finals in past years.
"I have been with the team since I started at K-State," said former club president and business lead Anish Srivastava, 2025 graduate in mechanical engineering, Olathe. "I have watched our team grow and improve every year, from not finishing in 2021 to placing fourth overall in the Michigan International this year. The placement feels unreal even a month later. This was not just the work of the current team, but the accumulation of knowledge, work and dedication of all alumni before us."
Powercat Motorsports celebrated 25 years of competition last year. One of the larger design teams in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, Powercat Motorsports is one of just many ways the college provides students with impactful experiences outside of the classroom, preparing them for life beyond K-State.
Hosein Baboly, teaching associate professor, and Kevin Wanklyn, teaching associate professor, both from the Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, serve as faculty advisors to the team.In addition to Carlgren and Srivastava, competing members of the 2025 Powercat Motorsports team at Michigan International Speedway include:
Mason Ouellette, senior in mechanical engineering, Belle Plaine; Lawson Hall, senior in mechanical engineering, Fort Scott; Reese Hirschler, freshman in mechanical engineering, and PJ Migliazzo, sophomore in mechanical engineering, both from Leawood; Madi Horton, junior in news and sports media, Newton; Thomas Harp, senior in biochemistry, Osawatomie; Payton Lee, graduate student in mechanical engineering, Ottawa; Spencer Strahm, senior in mechanical engineering, Sabetha; Will Fulkerson, senior in electrical engineering, Emma Shulda, senior in industrial engineering, Charlie Slothower, junior in mechanical engineering, and Mary Stevens, sophomore in interior architecture, all from Salina; Alayna Dill, junior in biology, Shawnee; Carter Cygan, senior in mechanical engineering, Spring Hill; Wyatt Haug, 2025 graduate in mechanical engineering, Topeka; and Louis Evans, junior in mechanical engineering, Wichita.
From out of state: Joey Carter, sophomore in mechanical engineering, Longmont, Colorado; Tyler Weber, senior in mechanical engineering, Kansas City, Missouri.