Rick Mercer is a man of his word. When the CBC comedy star visited the U of S in early November to film a segment for his show Rick Mercer Report, he agreed to provide the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team with racing suits, and they have arrived. Chad Michel, right, team captain, and Brandon Hicks, who heads the team’s sponsorship efforts, model the new state-of-the-art suits, shoes and gloves. Faculty advisor Glen Hauser said an added benefit of the gift is that the team receives matching funding for donations like Mercer’s through a Shell program called Student Projects Enriching Engineering Design (SPEED). This year, the team needs about $77,000 to attend the SAE competition in Chicago in May and to begin designing and building its next generation of car which should hit the road in 2009-10.

Photo by Colleen MacPherson.