Ever wondered what an Engineering student does all day?

Jamie Garratt, University of Wolverhampton Race Team (UWR) Formula Student Team Leader, studying Motorsport Engineering, blogs about what it’s like to work on a team of students, preparing a car for a national, annual competition, with students learning about teamwork, design and manufacturing and how their academic studies fit in with real-world activities. 

Formula Student is an engineering event which is run by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). For this event a student-led team designs and manufactures a single seater race car to a fixed set of requirements and competes against other universities from around the country at an annual event at Silverstone.  

The Formula Student competition has three entry classes: Formula Student Class, Concept Class and FS-AI (Formula Student Artificial Intelligence). 

The Formula Student event consists of several different static and dynamic events. The static events are comprised of three different events which are: Engineering Design, Cost & Manufacturing and Business Plan Presentation. Each of the static events have documentation which needs to be submitted prior to the event. This documentation is then presented to the judges at the event and marked. Once it has been marked a score is given to the team.  

The dynamic events comprise of four events which test the dynamics of the car which are: Skid pad (figure of 8), 1km Autocross/Sprint, 75m Acceleration and a 22km Endurance.  

The dynamic events give the teams a chance to test the cars which they have designed and manufactured. All of the teams have an opportunity to compete in these events providing they have passed through the scrutineering process which makes sure that the cars are legal, within the rules and also safe to be raced on the track. Once all this is done the teams compete against each other and score points. The teams which perform best in each event score the most points.  

Once all the static and dynamic events are completed, the points get added together and the team with the most points wins the competition.  

Reflecting on 2022 Performance 

Going into 2022, the team at UWR were competing as part of the concept class. This means that instead of us building a brand-new car every year, we take two years to design and build a car. As well as giving us more time to build the car, it also allows the team to focus more of our efforts onto the static events. Due to having a smaller team, competing in concept class was the perfect option, as it allows for the best student experience in the University of Wolverhampton Racing Team (UWR).  

Onto the 2022 Formula Student event, the team attended the event at Silverstone at the beginning of July hoping for a good result and a good foundation to build on going into 2023. The team began with the cost & manufacturing and design judging. Overall, this went really well, placing 5th in cost and 13th in design out of 34 concept teams. Once the cost and design judging was completed it was onto the business plan presentation. The business plan presentation was very successful, and we placed 28th.  Overall, this placed us 10th out of 34 in the concept class, which is an amazing achievement for the team and UWR. 

Looking to 2023 

Going into the 2022/23 season, the Formula Student team at UWR plan to focus on developing on the foundations which were set within the 2021/22 and building a strong reliable car which we aim to be very competitive against other universities competing within the event. The team aims to improve the car based on the feedback and guidance they received at the 2022 event, with testing of the completed car to begin in early 2023 allowing the team to understand and develop the car further going forward to the 2023 Formula Student event, giving the team the best opportunity to be successful.   

The UWR Formula Student team hopes what is learnt and implemented within 2022/23 will allow the team at the University of Wolverhampton to grow and expand into something truly great and beneficial for all students, not just engineering students for future years.  

Jamie aspires to one day have a career within the motorsport industry and being a part of the UWR Formula Student team has certainly given him the step up into the engineering industry, which will allow him to slot directly into any engineering role without any trouble. 

Formula Student taught him: how to design to specific rules and regulations, manufacture components from a piece of material all the way to a finish product, conduct relevant costing and manufacturing process (BoM/Bill of Material) and, finally, offered him key project management skills which have been implemented into the Formula Student project. Formula Student has offered him the additional non-academic knowledge which, along with his academic knowledge, will help him move straight into any engineering setting.  

The UWR Formula Student 2022 team would not be possible without the generous support of multiple sponsors, who have contributed valuable expertise, equipment, and finances. UWR is particularly grateful to the Engineering Integrity Society (EIS), HCi Systems, MyWorkWear, LaserProcess and Evo3D for their support in manufacturing and building Wolf VII, as well as equipping the team. Their guidance and knowledge, along with that of many other sponsors, helped us achieve our best result in 5 years. 

UWR is made up of students undertaking a variety of degrees including Motorsport, Automotive, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering at the Telford Innovation Campus based in Priorslee. It is part of the University’s commitment to producing graduates who can apply both theory and practice in the industry, offering them hands-on experience to equip them with real-world skills to boost their employability.  Find out more about the School of Engineering courses on the website. 

ENDS