Wolverhampton students impress with race car design
A race car designed by university students in the Black Country has been ranked as one of the best in the country.
The University of Wolverhampton Racing team (UWR) took part in the world’s largest student motorsport design, build and test competition.
The car they created finished in ninth place from among entries created by university teams. It was only the third year the team entered the event. They placed thirteenth overall of the 128 teams which entered.
Formula Student, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, is an annual global competition which takes place at the Silverstone Circuit. This year more than 2,000 students from 24 countries took part.
Students on the race team in the Faculty of Science & Engineering spent the last academic year planning, designing, building and testing their Formula Student race car at the Telford Innovation Campus as part of their degree studies.
At the competition, teams were judged on their car’s speed, acceleration, handling and endurance in a series of time-trial races.
But unlike a typical motorsport event, the teams are also tested on their designs, costings and business presentation skills as part of the competition.
Professor Ian Oakes, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “In our third year in taking part in this prestigious competition, students really chased a top 10 place making a massive improvement on last year’s performance where the team achieved 27th place overall.
“The team did really well in the individual tests, coming first out of 128 teams to pass all aspects of scrutineering as well as picking up some shortlisted awards for performance and design innovation.
"Overall the team worked well together and produced some really good results – showing their dedication and commitment to continuous improvement.”
Aidan Silsby, third year Motorsport Engineering student, said: “Formula Student was an amazing experience and I’m really pleased that my exhaust system design made such a valuable contribution to the improvement in performance compared with last year.
“Competitions like this really give students hands-on experience of motorsport handling and design which will certainly give us the edge when we start to apply for jobs in the industry.”
At the event Deputy Team Leader, Tom Hill, won the Most Entertaining Driver Award for his confidence on track during the sprint, endurance and fastest lap events.
Follow @UWRacing on Twitter for the latest news and updates from the team.
