The 2019 LTU Forumula SAE car in competition earlier this year at Michigan International Speedway.
LTU file photo

The howl of high-powered engines will be bouncing off the skyscrapers of Southfield’s City Centre area this Saturday, Oct. 12, as Lawrence Technological University hosts its 11th annual Grand Prix, organized by LTU’s Blue Devil Motorsports student racing organization.

More than 100 students from 10 participating universities are expected to attend.

The event showcases vehicles competing in events sponsored by SAE International, formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, including scaled-down Indy race cars, hybrid electric vehicles, off-road vehicles and more – all designed and built by students.

Besides the Blue Devil Motorsports team, racing teams from the following institutions have committed to attend: Ferris State University, Hope College, Kettering University, Michigan State University, Oakland University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Toledo, Wayne State University, and Western Michigan University. High school students from across Southeast Michigan have also been invited to attend.

The teams will be timed on laps around a twisting course in Lawrence Tech’s Parking Lot D (see www.ltu.map) starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. The event is scheduled to wrap up about 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be available to purchase. Free public parking is available in Lots C, A, and G.

Plymouth-based Link Engineering Co. and Esteco, an Italian design software firm with its North American headquarters in Novi, will also have booths at the event seeking to network with students. The LTU student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and LTU’s Admissions Department will also have booths at the event. Sponsors of the event include Absopure Water, the LTU ASME chapter, Better Made Snack Foods, Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co., Ken and Margaret Grezlik, Ingersoll Rand, Señors Food Truck, and US Ice.

Hope College won the event last year, while Lawrence Tech recorded the fastest time in 2017.

More about Blue Devil Motorsports at https://www.ltu.edu/motorsports.