Clubs and Organizations
Mechanical Engineering Student Design Teams
- Stony Brook Motorsports
- Stony Brook Solar Racing Team
- Stony Brook Robotics Team
- American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA)
Engineering Student Organizations
- National Society of Professional Engineers
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- Society of Women Engineers
- Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
- National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
- Pi Tau Sigma (International Mechanical Engineering Honor Society)
- Tau Beta Pi: NY Omicron at Stony Brook
Stony Brook Motorsports
One of the highlights of undergraduate student activities is Stony Brook Motorsports which takes part in the Baja Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International Competition Series.
Students in Stony Brook Motorsports build an off road car known as the "baja" virtually from scratch. They have a year to do this and they devote 20 hours per week, 40 towards the end of the semester. It is both fun and challenging for car enthusiasts and those who enjoy working on a team. The Society of Automotive Engineers supplies the engine for the car. The body, frame, brakes, pistons, tires are plotted, designed and assembled by the team in strict keeping to the budget and with regulations imposed by the Baja SAE International Competition rules. There is always a dedicated group of juniors and seniors willing to devote precious time to this project. The "team historian" keeps records of what went wrong and right in previous competitions. They learn from their mistakes and use experience to improve performance. In the late spring, the baja is ready to go and the group, with faculty advisors Noah Machtay and Austin Giordano, embark on a cross country odyssey to our nation's heartland to compete with other mini baja cars from engineering programs around the world. Over the years the Stony Brook Motorsports has placed in Design and Safety categories. The team has a history of long-standing, well respected team advisors, including Henry Honigman, Bob Martin, Lester Orlick, and Lin-Shu Wang.
At the Baja SAE Challenge at the South Dakota School of Mines in 2007, the team won the overall 3rd place, the 2nd place for design, and the 1st place in static design judging, among more than 100 international teams. In the Baja SAE Challenge at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2007, the team won the 1st place for the Autodesk Design Communication Award, the 9th place in static design judging, and the overall 20th place, among more than 140 international teams. Most recently, at the Baja SAE International Competition at Montreal, Canada in June 2008, the team won 2nd place overall.
Stony Brook Solar Racing Team
The Solar Racing Team is a group of undergraduate students with a passion for engineering. The interdisciplinary team consists of members representing Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, and Business. They design and manufacture a world class electronic race boat, which they use to compete with in the “Solar Splash” competition in May. All are welcomed to join, and experience is not required, as they take great pride in learning as a team. Please visit their website, sbusolarracing.weebly.com for more information or email sbusolarracing@gmail.com
Back to TopStony Brook Robotics Team
The general purpose of this team is to design, build, and test robots from scratch. Like MotorSports and SolarBoat, the kinds of skills that are obtained through the Robotics Team are invaluable to the students on the team. These skills will become useful when one decides to enter the work force. Such skills include teamwork, leadership, communication, and working under deadlines. In addition, the projects that this team has done in the past generally bear enough merit to be acceptable Senior Design projects.
This club is currently comprised of three main sub teams, which are the Mechanical Engineering team, the Electrical Engineering team, and the Computer Science & Computer Engineering Team. They also have a public relations group, which helps to promote the team. This club welcomes students from all majors and allows their members to decide what sub team they would like to be in based on their interest and personal experience. The breakdown of the team is just for organizational purposes only.
The main competition in which the team particpates is the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition, also known as IGVC. This competition has been held annually in Rochester, Michigan at Oakland University for more than thirteen years. The main objective is to implement the team’s general purpose such that the end product is a robot that can navigate an outdoor obstacle course autonomously. This is by no means an easy task, as it requires a good deal of higher level programming from the Computer Science team. It also requires sensor integration plus figuring out power requirements from the Electrical Engineering team. As for the Mechanical Engineering team, they need to make sure that the robot as a whole is durable in order to withstand the outside environment in which the course is located.
Other than working on projects, the team participates in recruitment fairs and robot expos. Examples of each are the on-campus involvement fair that is held twice a year and the Robotics Jamboree. The Robotics Jamboree is held every fall and has been run by Professor Gary Halada of the Materials Sciences and Engineering Department.
American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA)
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Club is the only club at Stony Brook University with a focus on aerospace engineering. The members of this organization learn technical skills applicable to the aerospace industry while connecting with peers with the same interest. The AIAA encourages those who are seeking to gain experience in aerospace engineering and be a part of a community that helps students find opportunities in the field to join this club.
Every year, AIAA members participate in the Design/Build/Fly Competition, which is hosted by the AIAA professional organization and sponsored by corporations such as Cessna Aircraft Company and Raytheon Missile Systems. This competition requires both undergraduate and graduate students to design and build a remote-controlled aircraft to perform specific tasks.
In 2018, the Stony Brook Chapter of AIAA was elected to compete in the final competition out of 50 teams, winning 3rd place for “Best Rookie Team for Altitude.”
NASA has also awarded them for being one of the top 40 teams to finish the design lifecycle, which involved report completion, rocket building and testing, and successfully flying the rocket with minimal damage to it.
For more information on AIAA’s accomplishments at the 2018 the Design/Build/Fly Competition, click here.
National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the United States. NSBE, founded in 1975, supports and promotes the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology.
With more than 600 chapters and more than 24,000 active members in the U.S. and abroad, NSBE’s mission is “to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community."
The Stony Brook University chapter of NSBE acts as an asset for developing skills outside of the classroom essential to competing in the job market. Others are encouraged to join because it offers the opportunity to make friends and network.
On April 1st, 2022, NSBE hosted a tour of the Zebra Technologies Holtsville site, which offered a unique in-person experience to the company and allowed visitors to ask questions of experienced members within the industry.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbgNLtPP34Z/
Tau Beta Pi: NY Omicron at Stony Brook
Tau Beta Pi is a national engineering honor society devoted to honoring students for academic excellence and for service to the engineering profession. The Omicron Chapter at Stony Brook University is composed of undergraduate students who excel academically and seek professional experience for entrance into the field of engineering.
Tau Beta Pi offers several exclusive benefits for both members and the general college of engineering community at Stony Brook, such as job fairs, insurance discounts, FE/PE exam and prep material discounts. This organization also holds events for those interested in research or internship positions, guidance on professional etiquette, graduate school preparation, applying to jobs, and professional networking.
In the Spring 2022 semester, Tau Beta Pi hosted the Lean Six Sigma White Belt Training, which was led by the Lean Six Sigma Institute (LSSI) and took over a year to arrange and execute. Tau Beta Pi was able to offer training to 70 students at a discounted price.
Tau Beta Pi also hosts Tau Talks events where professors and industry experts discuss their research, career paths, or general engineering topics.
Juniors who rank in the top eighth of their class and seniors who rank in the top fifth of their class are invited to become candidates for membership in Tau Beta Pi.