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Driving Innovation on the Track: How the UniTS Racing Team Accelerated Their Formula SAE Journey with 3D Printing

Driving Innovation on the Track: How the UniTS Racing Team Accelerated Their Formula SAE Journey with 3D Printing

Driving Innovation on the Track: How the UniTS Racing Team Accelerated Their Formula SAE Journey with 3D Printing
When performance meets precision, every gram and every millimeter matters. For the UniTS Racing Team competing in Formula SAE, innovation isn’t optional — it’s essential.

In their latest project, the team integrated ELEGOO 3D printing into the development of aerodynamic components and prototypes for their Formula SAE racecar — unlocking faster iteration, lower costs, and greater design freedom.

From Molds to 3D Printing: A Smarter Approach to Aerodynamics


Before incorporating 3D printing into their workflow, producing aerodynamic components, especially wings, involved time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly molding techniques. Small parts such as wing flaps were particularly difficult to manufacture with consistent quality. For inserts and spacers, the team relied on aluminum or steel sheets, which added extra time and expense, especially when the components were non-structural.

Embracing 3D Printing


Using their ELEGOO printer, the team began producing wing ribs, internal wing supports and spacers, wing flaps, and cooling ducts for the battery pack. For non-structural parts like battery cooling ducts, printing with PLA proved to be a lightweight and efficient solution — an important advantage in racecar engineering, where weight reduction directly impacts performance.

Faster Iteration, Greater Design Freedom


One of the biggest advantages the team highlighted was the impact on their iterative design process. 3D printing provided a fast and cost-effective way to produce and visualize prototypes of all types, significantly simplifying iteration. Instead of waiting days for traditionally manufactured components, the team could rapidly prototype and test ideas, produce small, one-off parts in-house, adjust designs quickly, and explore complex geometries without the constraints of CNC machining. When a component required a unique shape, what was once a machining challenge became straightforward with 3D printing.

Overcoming Challenges & Building Expertise


Although most team members were theoretically familiar with 3D printing, many lacked hands-on experience at the start. Like any engineering tool, the learning curve presented challenges, including minor inaccuracies, misfits, and structural weaknesses in early prints. The team addressed these issues by slowing down print speeds, carefully calibrating and leveling the printer and build plate, and increasing infill percentages to enhance strength. Since most printed components were prototypes or non-structural parts, the impact of structural limitations was manageable. Over time, print quality improved significantly as the team refined their parameters and gained practical experience.

Real Results on the Track


The final outcome was highly positive. The team successfully produced all required parts in-house, reducing production costs, improving overall design quality, and maintaining tighter development timelines. Compared to previous years, this season marked a breakthrough. Not only did they achieve higher print quality, but they also began producing scaled components that could be used directly on the racecar in the future. 3D printing evolved from a supplementary tool to a strategic asset in their development process.

Looking Ahead


With strong results and growing in-house expertise, the UniTS Racing Team plans to expand their use of 3D printing in future projects, producing more components and continuing to push the boundaries of student motorsport engineering. Through this process, the team gained not only technical knowledge but also greater confidence in adopting new manufacturing methods. Access to 3D printing tools enabled them to experiment, iterate, and improve their competitive performance, demonstrating how the right technology can empower innovation, learning, and growth.

From wing ribs to battery cooling ducts, this collaboration highlights how accessible 3D printing can transform student engineering projects — accelerating ideas from concept to competition-ready reality. Innovation doesn’t only happen in professional racing garages. Sometimes, it starts in a student workshop — one printed layer at a time.

 

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