Thanks to a generous grant from the Acopian family, Lafayette Motorsports is undergoing a shift that will enable students across Lafayette College in Pennsylvania to become involved with the state-of-the-art project.

Originally, the formula car was a mechanical engineering capstone design project. Students spent their senior year designing and fabricating a car to compete in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) formula-style racing competition. In recent years, the team evolved to include senior electrical and computer engineers, shifting to developing technologies and working to build an electric vehicle for theNow offered as a club, Lafayette Motorsports is open to all students interested in finding alternatives to gas-powered cars. Source: Lafayette College SAE Formula Electric Vehicle competition. While the formula car is still an option for senior design, the Acopian donation powers up a notable evolution as Lafayette Motorsports adds a club format.

This enables anyone regardless of year or major to participate on a project that embraces a leading solution to gas-powered cars in a climate-conscious society. It allows everyone — regardless of where they come from on campus or their level of experience — to bring something to the table, experience the benefits of working in an interdisciplinary team environment, and cultivate an interest in sustainable, renewable platforms for transportation and beyond.

Students who are interested in environmental issues, policy, infrastructure, marketing and more can discover the benefits and challenges of new technologies and see the interplay of elements that go into engineering design firsthand.

The Acopian family has a long-standing legacy at Lafayette Engineering. Sarkis Acopian graduated from Lafayette with a mechanical engineering degree in 1951 before founding Acopian Technical Co. in 1957. His sons, Greg ’70 and Jeff ’75, also graduated from the College, with electrical engineering degrees. Over the years, the family’s contributions have been transformational to Lafayette’s engineering programs.

A generous gift from Sarkis and his wife, Bobbye Acopian, resulted in a complete renovation of the 90,000 square-foot Acopian Engineering Center, dedicated on campus in 2003. This dramatic facility modernization enhanced the curricular offerings with state-of-the-art labs and enabled students to engage in a broad spectrum of projects of the magnitude of the formula car.