Teams of student engineers from around the globe are preparing for the 20th Formula Student event.
Taking place 13-15 July, this year’s competition is shaping up to be a memorable one, as Cardiff University — 2017 Overall Winners and the first-ever UK winners of the competition — return to compete against 129 other teams from over 30 countries.
The competition challenges each team of student engineers to design and build a single-seat racing car that will be tested on speed, acceleration and endurance, while the students themselves will be judged on their design, costing and business-presentation skills.
The event is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (
www.imeche.org).
The 2017 competition saw more than 2,000 students from 24 countries pack out the Silverstone paddocks, where the main Class 1 competition saw 19 electric vehicles and 73 vehicles with combustion engines compete.
In a close competition, overall winner Cardiff Racing was followed by UB Racing from the University of Birmingham and Swedish team Karlstad University in second and third place respectively.
Formula Student usually forms part of the students’ engineering degree course and counts towards their final mark. For new teams that may not have the experience to produce a fully working vehicle, Class 2 encourages teams to submit their designs and any manufactured parts for judging.
Dozens of Formula Student alumni have progressed to Formula 1, and hundreds more are now working at the world’s largest automotive firms, helping to design and engineer the cars
of tomorrow.