MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team.

OVERVIEW

I contributed to the design of an all-electric solar race car as part of MIT's Solar Electric Vehicle Team. My work focused on door and suspension components, with lightweight construction, safety, and reliability as the central constraints.

DOOR

I designed and modeled the door system in CAD, with particular attention to hinge motion and clearance. Motion simulations were used to validate fit and operability before team design reviews; feedback from those reviews drove subsequent revisions.

• Hinge-motion and clearance studies.
• CAD revisions for design review.
• Integration feedback from adjacent subsystems.

SUSPENSION

For suspension components, I applied FEA to reduce weight while preserving safety factor and limiting deflection. I also performed bearing calculations and stress evaluations, supporting trade-off studies between stiffness, strength, and manufacturability.

• Finite-element analysis for stress and deflection.
• Bearing calculations and structural-analysis support in MATLAB.
• Trade studies across stiffness, strength, weight, and manufacturing.

OUTCOME

The car was not yet manufactured or raced during my contribution period. The subsystem designs and analyses supported the team's path toward a competitive lightweight vehicle, while giving me practical experience with design reviews, FEA, and cross-disciplinary integration.