Racecar built by Corofin students makes its way to Silverstone
A RACING car built partly by students from Corofin has made its way to the iconic Silverstone Racetrack in England.
Formula Student is an engineering competition that sees teams of students from around the world design, build, test, and race a small-scale f1 style racing car.
Grace Rogers and Jack Haron from Corofin were among the 40 strong team representing the University of Limerick. They were joined by fellow Galwegian Ben Brady from Craughwell.
“I heard about the competition back in September and filled in an application to get involved right away. I’ve always had an interest in the sport, so this seemed like a great idea,” Grace, a second Year Mechanical Engineering student, told The Tuam Herald.
“My role revolved around tailoring the car for the driver, making decisions such as where the seat should be located, as well as working on steering, the brake pedals and the clutch. It took about two weeks to put the chassis together, and three weeks in all to get the car completed.”
Best Irish Design
While their entry didn’t make it onto the track to compete in tests of acceleration, breaking and endurance, largely due to running out of time after a delay in sourcing their chassis, the judges also looked at other areas of their project.
Teams were judged on creating a viable business plan to fund their racing team, as well as scored upon how well it was designed. Their design was deemed the best of all the entrants from Ireland.
“We have been working on the designs since we first came together in September, so it was nice to get this appreciation. Hopefully we can go one step further and test the car on the track next year,” added Grace.
“I would urge more people to give Formula Student a go as you meet so many new people from across the globe, all while getting some real-world engineering experience too. See if a job like this is for you.
“It was great meeting real life F1 engineers, a job I would love to have in the future,” she concluded.