Update on Cost Event Access application and Deadline for Add Item Requests

The newly founded Global Cost Event Committee strongly recommends basing their 2010 Cost Report on the Excel cost tables and use of the Excel spreadsheet. Of course teams can also use the existing Cost Event Access application for this year, but the committee cautions against relying on it exclusively.

The Global Cost Event Committee was established last month by the organizers of the FSAE Events. The goal of this committee is to push the cost event forward, to develop the cost rules further and to increase the quality of the cost application.

Despite all their efforts over the last few months, the committee concluded the application has reached the limits of its capacity, because of the enormous number of teams from all over the world using it. Consequently, the committee has decided to halt further work on the existing Access application and to concentrate on the development of a new web-based application instead. Therefore remaining bugs in the Access application will not be fixed for the 2010 events.

For more information please read the official note of the committee given below.

In order to guarantee an in-time response for all Add Item Requests, requests for FSG and FSE should be submitted no later than May 1st 2010. For more information please read the official rules on Add Item Requests. (FSAE Rule C3.13)

 

 

Official Note of the Global Cost Event Committee published on the Formula SAE website:

2010 FSAE Cost Event – Update on Access application

 
As most of you are aware the Microsoft Access application for the online development of the Cost Report has continued to experience a variety of bugs and based on the feedback we’ve received the bugs are not consistent across all users.   In addition to the bugs, syncing with the server can take a long time.  For months we’ve been working to fix the problems and improve the application’s functionality.  We are still not happy with the status of the application based on our own internal testing.  
 
Simultaneously we’ve been planning an expanded website that will allow uploading of documents, submission of rules questions, online evaluation by judges and an entirely web based Cost application.  Our long term goal is to have a single “supersite” for that will cover all the Collegiate Design Series competitions including the events outside of North America.  To reach that goal the FSAE website committee is partnering with the Baja SAE website committee.  We’re coordinating our efforts with a website developer who is a former competitor and fully understands what teams need.  We believe that this project will give us a site that will do what teams, organizers and judges want, but, unfortunately, it won’t happen this year. 
 
The FSAE Cost Event site was the first stage in this project and it turned out to be more difficult than we anticipated.   Given our progress toward the new website we’ve decided to suspend fixing all the bugs in the current Access application and to concentrate our resources on the next stage which will include a fully web based Cost application.  For the 2010 FSAE competitions the Access application will remain available, but may have bugs and sync times are likely to remain long.   What that means is that if the Access application continues to work for you then you can continue to use it, but we caution against relying on it exclusively.  
 
Instead, we strongly recommend you base your 2010 Cost Report on the Excel cost tables and use of the Excel spreadsheet called 2010_FSAE_eBOM.xls can be downloaded from www.fsaeonline.com.    We will continue to update the Excel Cost Tables for the entire 2010 competition year. 
 
Reminder – Remember you must submit both (1) a hard copy of your Cost Report and (2) an electronic copy on a CD.   If there are differences in those documents then the hard copy will have precedence.   The Cost Report mailing addresses are on the action deadline pages of the competition websites.  
 

2010 FSAE Michigan and California

We recommend that you forgo the Access application and use the Excel spreadsheet.  Although using the Excel spreadsheet may take longer initially, we believe that in the end you will save time and reduce your frustration. 



2010 Other Competitions

Other competitions will be deciding how best to proceed.  Based on our current development timeline we anticipate that a test version of the web based Cost application will be available later this year.   If that timeline is met, then the new web based system may be piloted at one or more competitions.  Watch this site, the FSAE news page and your competition website for updates.
 
All teams – If you are interested in participating in online testing and in providing comments on the revised website, please send your name, team name and contact information to Kathleen McDonald at katklauz@aol.com.  We’re looking for teams from across the world to improve our global test base and provide a stable solution for participants regardless of where they are located.
 
Note – The “Formula SAE Cost Event Expectations and Requirements for 2010 Michigan and California Events” posted on the FSAE news page has been revised.

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