Undergraduates win place on the podium at international racetrack competition

Imperial Racing Green third place in Formula Student Design Competition <em>– News</em>

Monday 23 August
By Colin Smith

Students who have built two Formula 1 style vehicles from scratch won third and fourth place in an international competition last month at the home of British racing.

The team of Imperial College London undergraduates were taking part in the Class 2 design section of the Institution of Mechanical Engineering’s 13th Annual Formula Student competition. Their all-electric single seat Imperial Racing vehicle, which won third place, consists of a light weight steel frame with two electric motors that are powered by batteries, positioned on either side of the driver.

Their IC06 combustion engine vehicle just missed out on a podium place, coming fourth. This vehicle also consists of a light weight frame, like the all-electric car, but it is powered by a 550cc Aprilla motorcycle engine.

The Formula Student competition is Europe’s biggest annual student motorsport event. This year, approximately 2,000 students from 23 countries took part in the contest, which was held in mid-July at Silverstone race track. The competition enables students to design, build and race Formula 1 style cars. They also gain valuable project management, business and presentation skills in the process.

The Imperial Racing Green team at the Formula Student competition

The Imperial undergraduates who took part of the event are part of the Imperial Racing Green (IRG) initiative, which draws on the expertise of more than 100 students from across eight different departments in Imperial’s Faculty of Engineering. The IRG project enables students to manage the design, testing and construction process of small scale Formula 1 style vehicles, giving them valuable experience before they begin their careers.

The class 2 category of the Formula Student competition is a static event that does not involve racing the vehicles around the track. Students gave presentations about their vehicles to a panel of industry experts, talking through their business plan, outlining production costs, and vehicle design specifications, plus an environmental impact statement for the all-electric Imperial Racing Vehicle.

Dr John Sheldrake, Project Manager of the Imperial Racing Green team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, added:

“Apart from being great fun, the Formula Student competition gave our students the chance to swap notes with students from other universities and see what exciting innovations they’re coming up with in vehicle design. It was really great experience for our students to have to give presentations about all the work that they have been doing in front of industry professionals. We are really pleased that the IRG team did so well in the contest. They were up against some stiff international competition and they managed to hold their own – well done to all involved!”

The Imperial Racing Green project is an initiative of the Energy Futures Lab, which is the College’s hub for interdisciplinary energy research.