Gearing up: Formula Student tests both the cars and their designers' skills
Thousands of the world’s best young engineers are on track for Silverstone with record numbers of teams having registered for this year’s Formula Student, the institution’s motorsport competition.
Formula Student – the world’s largest such event – challenges student engineers to design, build and race a single-seat racing car in a year. Dozens of previous contestants have progressed to the Formula One championship, and hundreds more are now working at the world’s largest automotive firms helping to design and engineer the cars of tomorrow.
Of the 178 teams to apply for this year’s event, 114 have successfully claimed a place at Silverstone, the home of British motorsport, for 9-13 July. Ross Brawn, former team principal of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, is also returning as competition patron.
Lining up at Silverstone will be 61 teams from UK universities, up from 47 last year, and 53 electric vehicles, a 120% increase on 2013. For the first time, teams from China, Ecuador and Jordan will compete, as well as teams from as far afield as South Africa, Pakistan, Australia, Canada and India. Formula Student 2013 winner ETH Zurich, from Switzerland, as well as the top UK car last year, Huddersfield University (which came 15th), are also returning to compete in July.
Jon Hilton, chairman of Formula Student, said: “It’s brilliant to see so many teams from around the world applying – it shows that the competition remains one of the most important learning experiences for those aiming to combine their studies with exposure to a real-world engineering project.
“We’re also delighted to see teams from four new countries registering. Formula Student is a global competition, and we want to encourage brilliant young engineers from across the globe to improve their practical skills and get ready to play their part in the worldwide engineering community. The innovation demonstrated by these young engineers gets more impressive every time. I’m excited to see what they have in store for us this year.”
The competition’s success in attracting an international element can be attributed partly to Formula Student’s commitment to working with industry and academia. This work helps to develop graduates who can make a smooth transition from university to high-performance engineering because of their all-round business, project management, team development and budgeting skills – as well as technical abilities – which demonstrate real-world design and product delivery.
The esteem in which industry holds the competition has been shown by several recent events. The IMechE’s Formula Student project manager Fiona Pawley represented the Institution as a cabinet member in the inaugural Race Tech World Motorsport Symposium in January. The two-day think-tank event was co-chaired by Ulrich Baretzky, head of engine technology at Audi Sport and John Iley, performance director at Caterham F2 Teams, with 22 cabinet members invited from high-level F1 and motorsport teams.
Also in January, 2013 winner ETH Zurich exhibited at the Innovation Showcase at the Motorsport Industry Association’s Low-Carbon Conference. This is Europe’s leading forum for low-carbon, high-performance technology featuring real vehicles, concepts and prototypes. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate the latest race-proven and low-carbon advances made by the high-performance engineering community. Formula Student also featured at the Engineering Show at Autosport International, held at the NEC in January.
In the Formula Student competition, the cars will be judged on their speed, acceleration, handling and endurance in a series of time-trial races, while the teams are tested on their design, costing and business presentation skills. There will also be a whole series of awards up for grabs, including the Craig Dawson Most Valuable Team Member Award, in memory of former Formula Student competitor, faculty advisor and commentator Craig Dawson who died three-and-a-half years ago.
Meanwhile, in June the nationwide Formula Student Diesel Eco Challenge – run with Formula Student partner Robert Bosch UK – will take place for a second time, and competition sponsor MIRA will hold a test day at its renowned testing ground, for teams to iron out any last-minute problems.
Tickets to attend the competition are on sale now. If you can’t wait until July for your fix of Formula Student, you can buy a book that celebrates the competition since 1998 at
shop.imeche.org/fsyearbook
Stay up-to-date with all the latest from Formula Student at www.formulastudent/com and #FSUK2014