While Students owning racehorses is a cliché reserved for Oxford and Cambridge (maybe slightly outdated, P.G. Wodehouse has been dead for some time), students with their own car racing team are not quite as common.
“Formula Student” is the name of a program to promote electrical engineering and business knowledge at Universities around Europe. It promotes careers and excellence in engineering by challenging university students to design, build, develop, market and compete as a team with a small single seater racing car. The team “Rennstall Esslingen” at the University of Applied Science in Esslingen, Germany is currently ranked world number 24, and in 2010 is fighting to move up this list.
(Team Esslingen at Varano, picture courtesy of Rennstall Esslingen)
Previously the electrical engineers had not worked with a professional engineering environment for their electrical CAD, but as their race car began to incorporate more electrical components and systems, with additional sensors, etc., they found that a specialized CAD package was essential. The team asked Zuken for their support, knowing that they work with some automotive and motorsport companies.
The result: Zuken is supporting the automotive engineers of tomorrow by donating a license of their advanced cable design and formboard creation software from the E³.series electrical software suite to the Formula Student team.
(The team Esslingen "Stallardo" vehicle. Picture credits: Zuken)
Timo Fix, wiring systems team leader of the Esslingen team comments: “With the support of Zuken, we have been able to make a leap forward with our 2010 car. They have not only donated their leading software to us, but also given us full training to enable us to use it to its full potential.”
The project is designed to be as close to actual market conditions as possible, demanding that the students follow the same design justification and business planning as a commercial race team. For the purpose of the competition, the students assume that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation. The intended sales market is the non-professional weekend racer so the car must have very high performance in terms of acceleration, braking, and handling qualities. At the same time, it must be low in cost, easy to maintain, and reliable. In addition, the car’s marketability is enhanced by other factors such as aesthetics, safety and use of common parts. The challenge to the team is to design and fabricate a prototype car that best meets these objectives. They then enter races locally and internationally to compete for a place in the world ranking. Next on the list are races at Hockenheim, Melk and Varano.
Zuken is also one of the platinum sponsors of the team. “As a high-tech company that operates in the automotive and motorsport industries, we recognize the importance of continuing to support the development of young engineers. Supporting this program is critical to keep an innovative supply of individuals entering the industry,” said Joachim Frank, head of E³.series business development. “We look forward to tracking their progress during the race season in August and September,” he added. According to Frank, Zuken is committed to aiding the development of tomorrow’s engineers and is open for discussions about supporting similar student projects.
(Team Esslingen at Varano, picture courtesy of Rennstall Esslingen)
Previously the electrical engineers had not worked with a professional engineering environment for their electrical CAD, but as their race car began to incorporate more electrical components and systems, with additional sensors, etc., they found that a specialized CAD package was essential. The team asked Zuken for their support, knowing that they work with some automotive and motorsport companies.
The result: Zuken is supporting the automotive engineers of tomorrow by donating a license of their advanced cable design and formboard creation software from the E³.series electrical software suite to the Formula Student team.
(The team Esslingen "Stallardo" vehicle. Picture credits: Zuken)
Timo Fix, wiring systems team leader of the Esslingen team comments: “With the support of Zuken, we have been able to make a leap forward with our 2010 car. They have not only donated their leading software to us, but also given us full training to enable us to use it to its full potential.”
The project is designed to be as close to actual market conditions as possible, demanding that the students follow the same design justification and business planning as a commercial race team. For the purpose of the competition, the students assume that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation. The intended sales market is the non-professional weekend racer so the car must have very high performance in terms of acceleration, braking, and handling qualities. At the same time, it must be low in cost, easy to maintain, and reliable. In addition, the car’s marketability is enhanced by other factors such as aesthetics, safety and use of common parts. The challenge to the team is to design and fabricate a prototype car that best meets these objectives. They then enter races locally and internationally to compete for a place in the world ranking. Next on the list are races at Hockenheim, Melk and Varano.
Zuken is also one of the platinum sponsors of the team. “As a high-tech company that operates in the automotive and motorsport industries, we recognize the importance of continuing to support the development of young engineers. Supporting this program is critical to keep an innovative supply of individuals entering the industry,” said Joachim Frank, head of E³.series business development. “We look forward to tracking their progress during the race season in August and September,” he added. According to Frank, Zuken is committed to aiding the development of tomorrow’s engineers and is open for discussions about supporting similar student projects.
THis is a really cool program. I think the engineering school in Rolla, Missouri has a very similar program. It was University of Missourit at Rolla (UMR) but now the name is changed to MST (Missouri Science and Technology), I think. Makes me wish I was in school again.
Posted by: Synthetic Oil | 07/29/2010 at 05:44 AM
I can remember my days back when I am in school. As a team, we used to have project designs like this to create competitive prototype cars. It's a great feeling to be part of the team where we also developed a young engineer attitude.
Posted by: Leroy L. Montgomery | 09/10/2010 at 05:00 AM
This is a very brilliant idea, providing education about the automotive world is beginning to promote the automotive industry.
Posted by: indri | 09/18/2010 at 01:08 PM
The students have moved up to making in race car. Young talents are now becoming professionals. Can anybody post the spec of the car. I am interested to know.
Posted by: Used Car Dealers | 08/24/2011 at 07:38 AM
A prototype or not they did a good job with this. I am looking forward to the team's next project.
Posted by: Craigslist Dealerships | 09/11/2011 at 10:46 AM