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The podium at this year’s event, which took place at Silverstone last week (16-20 July), was also entirely formed of EV teams, reflecting an increasing focus on the class at the IMechE student competition. The University of the Basque Country came out on top, followed by the Technical University of Denmark in second and Oxford Brookes University in third.
The proportion of EV teams is likely to continue rising in coming years and will probably eventually reach about 80%, chief judge Dan Jones told Professional Engineering. Aspiring engineers who build EVs will be placed in good stead for careers in industry – but, Jones added, so will teams working on ICEs, as “the powertrain is only one part of the whole car”.
“A lot of what the students get from the Formula Student project, which you don't get at university, is working on a complex time-bound multidisciplinary project,” he said. “It has additional soft skills, or understanding how stuff is made – so whatever they work on, if they do it in detail on the car, then all of those skills are transferable and give them a head start versus non-Formula Student graduates.”
Another part of the competition that will become increasingly relevant for employment is the autonomous category, which had a record-breaking 27 teams taking part this year. IMechE provided four autonomous cars as ‘platforms’ for the teams’ software systems, up from the previous two, thanks to funding from the government's Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
The concept class of the event also expanded this year, Jones said, thanks to the introduction of a driving simulator hardware rig that allowed drivers to take part in virtual dynamic events. Those ran alongside the lap time simulation element, as well as design, cost and business elements.
“They had one practice lap to get their eye in and then two timed laps, and it was the fastest of those that counted,” Jones said. “[We got] very positive feedback from the teams… so for next year, we're going to bake that in as part of the concept class competition. That's relevant in automotive and all other areas of industry; lots of people have now moved to fully virtual-first prototypes.”
The chief judge also highlighted good levels of preparedness among the teams, with the highest percentage of running cars since disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The number of teams who were ready for scrutineering first thing on Thursday morning was a noticeable improvement,” Jones said. “You've got students who have now been to multiple competitions and learned their lessons. The general level of preparedness [and the] quality of the cars in general was better.”
Other changes to the event included unlimited dynamic runs and ‘hot seat’ team member interviews sponsored by Bentley. An optional project management event also gave teams the opportunity to fine-tune their approach, Jones said.
“Some teams who are already big enough do lots of industry-level – or close to industry-level – management of their project, but they don't really get the chance to talk about it in detail… or get feedback,” he said. “We're also conscious that there are some teams that don't do anywhere near as much project management as they probably should be doing, and it's an incentive for them to do a bit more or try to get some feedback from the judges.”
This year, the competition also expanded its online presence, with podcasts and online videos for students. “We're trying to make it a go-to hub for both fun stuff around Formula Student, but also resources,” Jones said. “There's lots of stuff on there on design advice.”
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.