Learn to Win spurs on Formula Student 2016 teams

In preparation for Formula Student 2016, 170 students attended masterclasses and presentations to boost their teams' chances.

Seventeen Formula Student teams came to Learn to Win at One Birdcage Walk recently, while 11 connected via the webinar, including one from France, two from Nigeria, and many more from across the UK.

Bath University, which came fourth overall in Formula Student 2015, the highest ranked UK university, brought electric and internal combustion teams to the event.

Learn to Win supports universities as they get ready for the Formula Student (FS) competition. The day of presentations, training and feedback is the only chance they have to ask crucial questions and get advice from the head judges, engineering specialists, FS graduates and business experts, often one-to-one, before the event in July.

Chief Judge, Terry Spall, opened the proceedings before senior judges and officials offered their advice and tips during seminars, workshops and drop-in sessions.

One of the day’s highlights was the chance to hear from FS Ambassador David Brabham, triple Le Mans 24 Hours class winner. He spoke of the dynamics of team, driver and engineer in his ‘Preparing to Win’ presentation, and inspired delegates with his Project Brabham story.

Brabham said: "I really enjoyed talking to the Formula Student participants at the impressive Institution HQ. I had the opportunity to outline the winning mentality needed, which not only helps people prepare better, but also perform to their best levels at an event. After my talk I also spoke to some of the students individually. The intelligence and enthusiasm that these students have is incredible. They will have a great future by learning and being guided by the Institution mentors."

Dan Jones, Chief Technical Scrutineer said: “Having supported Learn to Win each year since its inception, I am continually impressed by the year-on-year improvement demonstrated by the teams that attend. Several universities have already started on their 2017 programmes – an interesting development which other universities should consider. I look forward to the 2016 event at Silverstone and getting to see the realisation of the ideas discussed with the teams in the flesh.”

There were nine presentations from many experienced FS judges – including scrutineering, business presentation, design and project management – as well as opportunities to discuss issues further with all the contributors.

The University of South Wales and The University of Brighton are taking part in FS for the first time in 2016.

Dr Daniel Coren, Senior Lecturer at the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics at Brighton said of his students’ team: “We are at a crucial early stage where high quality advice is particularly valuable. Our students found Learn to Win to be highly informative – in particular the access to the judges – and greatly motivating, especially the talk from David Brabham – what a nice guy! The tutors’ meeting was useful for me – great to meet up with staff from other universities and learn from each other.”

Students from Kingston University, which fielded a team for the first time in the 2015 competition, found many aspects of Learn to Win crucial to their chance of success, particularly the opportunity to discuss issues in person.

Aldus Von Der Burg, Team Leader KU e-Racing, said: “One of the biggest concerns we had at the time was the chassis design and accumulator container designs. If we had done these incorrectly, we would have failed scrutineering. Having the judges clarify what we did wrong helps both us and the judges ensure that Formula Student runs smoothly.”

Formula Student 2016 is predicted to have more entries than ever this year and Institution organisers still need more volunteers to help with the event at Silverstone.

More information
Team applications open on 11 January 2016. Teams can apply via the Formula Student website. Formula Student 2016 takes place on 14-17 July (provisional dates). To view video interviews and resources, visit the Institution's Video On Demand service and search 'Learn to Win' or 'Formula Student'.