In 1980 when the members of the new SAE student branch at the University of Texas (Austin) learned that the Mini-Indy had died, they generated the concept for a new intercollegiate student engineering design competition that would allow students to apply what they were learning in the classroom to a complex, real-world engineering design problem: design and development of a race car. UT SAE student branch members Robert Edwards and John Tellkamp led a discussion among UT SAE members and envisioned a competition that would involve designing and constructing a race car along the lines of the SCCA Formula 440 entry-level racing series that was popular at the time. Prof. Matthews came up with the “Formula SAE” name following the format of Formula A and Formula Vee but emphasizing that this new race car was an engineering competition rather than a driver's competition. Schools would meet after the end of the academic year to compete and determine who had built the best car. Edwards, Tellkamp, and fellow UT SAE students Joe Green, Dick Morton, Mike Best, and Carl Morris drafted a set of safety and competition rules and presented them to the SAE student branch membership and to UT SAE Faculty Advisor Prof. Ron Matthews. Prof. Matthews then contacted Bob Sechler of the SAE Educational Relations Department at SAE headquarters and asked for his permission both to establish the new intercollegiate student engineering design competition and to host the first Formula SAE competition during the summer of 1981, and he agreed. The newly formed UT SAE branch, consisting mostly of automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts pursuing engineering degrees, including several who had left careers in fields for which the job market had virtually disappeared due to the depressed economy in the early 1980s – including some experienced auto mechanics, embraced and adopted the concept with little idea of what they were getting themselves into. SAE student branch officers Mike Best, Carl Morris, and Sylvia Obregon, along with Dr. Matthews began planning and organizing the event to be held the following year.