Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will be a first-time sponsor of the international engineering design competition SAE International Formula SAE program for the 2016 competition year.

Formula SAE brings engineering student teams from more than 220 universities around the world to build Formula-style race cars and compete against teams from around the world, Cooper said. Student teams are judged in categories such as design, marketing, cost, and on-track performance.

As part of the sponsorship, Cooper has funded a project to provide Avon race tires, a brand manufactured by the company’s Cooper Tire Europe subsidiary, to Calspan Corp. for tire testing. The tire performance data from the testing will be available to Formula SAE teams.

This year’s Formula SAE events include an engineering collegiate competition hosted at the Michigan International Speedway on May 11 to 14, and the Formula SAE Lincoln and Formula SAE Electric events on June 15 to 18 in Lincoln, Neb.

 

For more information on Formula SAE, visit students.sae.org.