Silver machine starts to take shape

A Sheffield Hallam University product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 20, 2002

Five engineering students from Sheffield Hallam University are building a stunning silver racing car for Formula Student, an international motoring competition for universities around the world.

Five engineering students from Sheffield Hallam University are building a stunning silver racing car for Formula Student, an international motoring competition for universities around the world.

Chris Clinch (engine), Gurmeet Kalcut (transmission), Paul Ibbotson (research and benchmarking) and Laura Hebblethwaite (braking system), are using the engineering expertise they have learnt to construct the car, which will be powered by a 600cc-motorbike engine.

Formula Student challenges competitors to produce cars that compete against each other in categories such as endurance, acceleration, skid pad handling, sprinting, manoeuvrability, fuel economy and design.

Teams also have to produce sales and marketing plans aimed at nonprofessional weekend competitors.

The competition is sponsored by the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and the Motor Industry Research Association.

Many automotive companies use the event as a headhunting opportunity and previous winning team members have gone on to work for Arrows F1, McClaren, Jaguar and Prodrive.

Although the Sheffield Hallam team is aiming to make a big impression at next year's competition, its design was advanced enough to be able to enter in some categories at this June's event, held in Bruntingthorpe, Leicester.

Although they didn't win, the team was awarded a top mark of ten out of ten for their use of manufacturing processes and materials.

The judges were amazed at the amount of work such a small team, on such a tiny budget, had done.

Most teams are better financed and have 10 or more members, including qualified postgraduate students.

There will be another Formula Student race meeting in October, which the team will use as another learning and testing opportunity on the road to next summer's main competition.

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