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Concurrent Engineering Blog

Formula Student 2012, University of Liverpool sponsored by PTC!

Posted by Rachel Jones on 01-Jun-2012 10:33:00

On July 11th Formula Student 2012 will kick off at the world famous Silverstone Circuit in Towcester!  A 5 day event, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and backed by industry and high profile engineers, Formula Student (FS) is one of Europe's most established educational motorsport competitions!

Universities from across the globe are challenged to design and build a single-seat racing car in order to compete in static and dynamic events, which demonstrate their understanding and test the performance of the vehicle.

The Challenge

Students are to assume that a manufacturing firm has engaged them to produce a prototype car for evaluation. In addition to technical skills, students acquire management, marketing and people skills - so vital across all sectors of employment.

By encouraging teams to be innovative and to work on both the technical and business aspects of the project, Formula Student gives students from around the world the ideal opportunity to learn new skills and showcase their talent.

Formula Student, Creo

On a recent visit to the University of Liverpool, I met with Dr Chris Sutcliffe, a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Materials and Stuctures, and Dan Hibbert, a Lecturer for the Centre for Engineering Sustainability.  Chris and Dan have taken an active role in working with the students to develop their cars, and with sponsorship from PTC and using Creo software, feel that this years car will be their best ever!

At Liverpool it has always been about giving the students a world class education and with the advent of the competition in the UK it was an opportunity too important to miss. So, in 2002, Dr Dave Moreton and Dr Chris Sutcliffe started to develop the first car with a select group of students and some key sponsors. It was a steep learning curve, though! Taking four years to design and build, the car finally competed in 2006, coming 37th overall.

Since then, successive students have benefitted from knowledge passed down to them by previous teams. This has now enabled the development of a new car every year, each one better than the last.

To see the Team members progress and car development, you can visit their website!

Commercial Opportunities

Formula Student builds future engineering talent. The students that take part have proved not only their practical engineering expertise, but the management, marketing and people skills that businesses across all industries need. The companies that are involved with FS, as a partner or sponsor, have personal contact with these highly skilled young engineers, all of them potential recruits or future business contacts.

Many of our partners and sponsors also see FS as a valuable educational tool. They recognise that by supporting it they are helping to inspire the next generation of engineers.

For further information about how you can get involved with Formula Student, visit their Website here