Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/100963
WWU Vehicle Research Institute Article by John R. Thomas, Photos by Bill Rogers Since I had never before visited Western Washington University nor had I been on a tour starting at the Smokey Point rest stop, I left home early and arrived at this rest stop about 8:15 am, 15 minutes early. However, Duane and Dawn Schindler were there before me, as was Dayton Robinson. Shortly our leaders, Bill and Sheryl Rogers, then Bill Bauer and other cars rolled in. We were quite early because even the plan to leave Smokey Point at 9 am allowed more than adequate time to get to our appointed arrival at the VRI. Paul Roddy saw Barry Wood arrive in the truck parking area. I learned that some previous PNWR tours had started over there. We chatted for the time, especially about the recent Rennsport Reunion IV, which several others had attended and enjoyed greatly. We signed the release form, decided to make a stop for coffee and left the rest stop about 9:10 am. Others on the tour included Jack and Anna Filutowski, Dale and Jody Hadley, Ivo and Winnie Graf, Tim Thon, and Scott Morten. Eric and Sherry Breidenbach joined us at WWU. We drove north on I-5 about 15 miles, took an exit to Conway, then drove through some hills and across the Skagit Valley to the tiny 32 towns of Bow and Edison. The route was a good combination of straights and curves, but we encountered a couple of places where there was mud deposited on the road by trucks entering and leaving farms along the way. It was drizzling a bit, so my car and I think most others needed a good bath after the trip. We stopped in Edison where there were a couple of little bakery or coffee shop businesses open plus a couple of interesting antique/ artsy shops and a tavern that were closed. From here we proceeded a short distance to the always scenic and curvy Chuckanut Drive to Fairhaven and then a short distance east to the WWU campus. This campus is very large, tree lined to a great extent and very attractive with many new buildings. We found the parking area reserved for us just outside the building where the Formula SAE (FSAE) team works. I believe this building is the center of the Vehicle Research Institute (VRI). FSAE is an intercollegiate competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers to teach all the disciplines involved in the auto industry���management, marketing, design, engineering and many others. About 20 members of the FSAE team (all students at WWU) were there to greet us plus to show and explain the features of 5 vehicles from recent competitions. The building includes more than 5 large garage stalls where the team stores and works on these vehicles. The building also houses shops, which include tools such as numerically controlled milling machines, tools for fabricating many types of composite structure, and even a very small wind tunnel (only good for 1/16th scale models, per the later presentation). The 5 vehicles were 3 Formula SAE cars (open-wheel race cars) and 2 lightweight, highly aerodynamic hybrid-powered vehicles from Formula Electric com- November 2011