Press releases
The world’s best young engineers are on course for Silverstone as Formula Student UK gears up for its 19th year.
The global competition, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, is the world’s largest student motorsport event and challenges student engineers to design, build and race a single seat racing car in one year.
Dozens of Formula Student alumni have progressed to Formula 1, and hundreds more are now working at the world’s largest automotive firms helping to design and engineer the cars of tomorrow.
Applications were received from teams around the world, and 156 have successfully claimed a place for the competition at the home of British motorsport on 14-17 July.
Ross Brawn, former Team Principal of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, returns as competition patron and will meet students at the opening ceremony. Ambassadors this year include Paddy Lowe, Executive Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, Willem Toet, Former Head of Aerodynamics at Sauber F1, former Formula 1 driver David Brabham and BBC science presenter Dallas Campbell.
Formula Student 2015 winners Delft University of Technology, from The Netherlands, will return to compete in July alongside the top UK car from the University of Bath. Oxford Brookes and the University of Birmingham, who also finished in the top 10 last year, will once again return this time round.
This year sees a Sri Lankan team entering Formula Student for the first time. The other teams will be from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, UK and Ukraine.
Richard Folkson, President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:
“Students who compete in Formula Student are highly valued in all sectors of industry, not just in automotive engineering, but across all disciplines such as aerospace, power industries, manufacturing and process industries.
“The benefits of the competition are in teaching them teamwork, delivering challenging technical targets on time and within a tight budget and pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible while showing the judges they understand the science behind their ideas.
”As always, I’m extremely excited to see what engineering innovations will be on show this year and I wish all teams taking part the best of luck.”
Formula Student will take place in Silverstone on 14-17 July. The cars are 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.
Journalists are invited to attend
WHEN: From 10am, Thursday 14 July
WHERE: Silverstone Circuit
Towcester
Northamptonshire
NN12 8TN
For further information or to attend please contact:
Seun Von Robert-Edomi at s_vonrobert-edomi@imeche.org
Mob: 07864876252
For the full preliminary line-up click here
Formula Student partners for 2016 include CD Adapco, EBaracus, GKN, Leoni Wiring, MathWorks, Mercedes AMG HPP and PTC.