Glasgow Caledonian charts path to success in first Formula Student

2020 will be the first year that Glasgow Caledonian University has entered a car into the Formula Student competition, but that does not mean they aren’t aiming high.

 Team member Zac McCaffery says that, despite being new to the challenge, they are aiming for their car to be competitive in all the dynamic events.

“We designed the car to meet our goals as a team, we want to compete in all the dynamic events, so we have designed our car as an all-rounder with no individual focus, a car suitable for all events,” he says. “As this is Glasgow Caledonian University’s first ever attempt at a Formula Student team, we have a fresh, keep it simple point-of-view, when it comes to design in order to compete in all the events of the competition.

“We think we stand a chance to achieve the newcomer award, and this is our main goal for 2020. We recognise the challenges of building a car in our first year, and aiming to compete in FSUK, not the concept class, but we absolutely love this challenge and believe we can achieve our goals.”

Zac says that, aside from the challenge and enjoyment of competing in the challenge, the team also saw the benefits of the competition in boosting their employability.

“We recognised that if we were able to apply the skills, and the knowledge we have gathered from our classes we will be more employable to companies, especially in the automotive field,” he says. “In Formula Student, you have an opportunity to apply your theoretical knowledge in a fun, practical, and competitive environment. You also have a chance to learn new skills, for example, business and marketing skills, skills that otherwise, as engineers we would not have. 

“This year we have two graduating members, Ian, our research and development head aims to pursue a career in the automotive or energy development fields. Euan is as-of-yet unsure about his goals for next year, but feels that as a third-year direct entry student, he lacked any opportunity to get industry experience. Participating in Formula Student helped bridge this gap and he feels more confident in his job hunting as a result.”