6/15/2026 - 7/15/2026: NFR26 Competition Recap / NFR27 Introduction

[Rahwa Tesfay]

Northwestern Formula Racing Summer Newsletter - 7.15.2026 @nufsae | northwesternformularacing.com NFR26 Competition Recap - Anton Walvoord Team at FSAE Electric Competition Hello NFR! It's been a little while, but I'm very excited to give a debrief of this year's comp season. A few weeks back we drove once again to Michigan International Speedway, excited to compete with 88 other teams at FSAE Electric. I'm extremely proud to say that we completed both Mechanical and Tractive Battery (Accumulator) inspection on our first attempts! We also massively improved our performance on static events, particularly presentation, moving from 82nd to 11th place! Unfortunately, we faced continued issues making it through EV Active, leaving very little time to complete tilt, rain, and brake tests. We also failed our first attempt at rain test, triggering our IMD and heading to the red car tent. Fortunately, we quickly found the leak and patched it, hurrying back and passing on our second attempt without damage to the car. These delays meant that we unfortunately ran out of time to complete skidpad and acceleration runs, and were only able to complete a rushed autocross attempt. Exiting after endurance! Despite all of these circumstances, I am incredibly proud to announce that we were able to fully complete endurance, placing 15th! From our records, this is the first time in NFR history since 2016, and the first time ever as an EV! With all of these results, even being unable to run 2 dynamic events, we still placed 22nd overall, a 1 place improvement from last year. Lifting NFR26! Goodbye from Anton:  Thank you to everyone who read this newsletter! I really enjoyed sharing some insights on the team to past members. I'm officially out of the PM role now but I'm sticking around as electrical VI and I'm so excited to keep building on this progress. Now I hand you over to the new PM: Rahwa Tesfay. I am so excited and confident for her to take over the role and guide the team! BAFC! Introduction to NFR27 - Rahwa Tesfay Hello NFR family!  With NFR26 officially in the books, our team has started work on NFR27. Building off the successes of NFR25 & 26, we are aiming towards building our team's first EV with AWD using hub motors! I have high hopes for this upcoming year, and I look forward to sharing them with you all. With that being said, I should introduce myself! My name is Rahwa and I'll be leading NFR27 as Project Manager along with our Chief Engineer, Matt Hosemann. We also have an awesome group of exec members that help us make this car a reality: NFR27 Exec Board! Along with Matt and I, we have 2 Vehicle Integration leads! Ben Smith will be working on the mechanical side, while Anton Walvoord works on the electrical side.  The mechanical subteams—Aerodynamics, Chassis, Suspension, and Tractive Battery (formerly Accumulator)— will be led by Santi Webb, James Orr, Thomas Surridge, and Yassine El Haboussi, respectively. While the electrical subteams—Data Acquisition, High Voltage Electronics, and Low Voltage Electronics—will be led by Daniel Kramer, Rohit Seshadri, and Brandon Tendilla. Our Operations subteam will be led by Autumn Wang. You'll be able to learn more about the people that make up our team through future newsletters and our Instagram. Thank you all for the support last year and I hope you continue to follow NFR27!  Feel free to reach out to me by email (rahwate...@u.northwestern.edu) or by phone (301-701-0982)! With <3 from NFR