Overview:

SR26 Body Panels Design and Manufacturing

I designed and manufactured the Kydex body panels and shielding for the 2025–2026 competition vehicle. My first major project on the team as a freshman was developing a novel foam mold fabrication process that allowed us to rapidly manufacture the body panels for our car out of any thermoplastic as opposed to traditional carbon fiber layups. The panels for SR25 were a successful trial run of this method, and it was successful enough that I decided to reuse the process on SR26. I modelled all of the panels using the surface modelling tools in NX which were then translated into molds and machined on a CNC router. This approach reduced body panel weight by approximately 40% compared to equivalent carbon fiber layups while also improving manufacturability and massively simplifying and shortening the production workflow. I mostly did this for fun and because I have had an idle interest in automotive industrial design since early in high school.