Please introduce your university and team!
The Cairo University Racing Team has been running for 7 years, we are a group of 65 Cairo University students participating in Formula Student competitions all over the world and started back in 2010 as a graduation project. We share similar thoughts and beliefs that we can make a difference both in Motorsport and all engineering fields for the sake of a better future.
The university is considered one of the largest hubs for extracurricular activities and it greatly cares for students’ growth and have forever been supportive of handing the team to new generations and the persistence of the team’s presence has always been their number one goal. However, our team lacks the financial support and ease from the university which puts our performance at great risk.
From 2012 to 2018 we have built IC-powered cars but this year we’re going electric with a fully 100% EV for 2019.
What’s the structure of your team?
Our team is divided into two major departments , technical and non-technical, the technical department holds two sub-divisions the mechanical and electrical divisions, where the mechanical division holds 6 teams (Chassis, Suspension, Transmission, Aerodynamics, Brakes, Cooling) and the electrical division holds 4 teams (Energy Storing Level, Embedded System, Ground Level Voltage , Traction Control ). As for the non-technical department, It’s divided into two divisions the Operations which holds the marketing, human resources, fundraising, media and information technology, logistics and accounting teams, while the second division is the Business and Manufacturing which holds the Business Planning and Cost&Manufacturing teams.
What are your objectives for the 2019 competition?
We have several objectives this year!
- Top 10 finish in Cost & Business Events
- Top 20 in Design Event
- Maximum points with the best performance in Dynamic Events
Our team has always been the best in the MENA region in all competitions we took part in from 2012 to 2016, however the lack of financial support has made us fall short and our performance was greatly affected. But this year we’re back with a minimum goal of being the best in the MENA region.
Our team used to depend on a one man show, though in later years the team was a maximum number of 25 members, where all members helped out with everything, whether it was their specialisation or not. This year. we decided to open the doors to more potential team members who understood the scale of the competition and are willing to work towards it. This has made it a lot easier for all the members in the team. Having a full non-technical department is also something new this year, as in previous years it was assigned to whoever was free. As a result we have more specialised students are working in the teams of logistics, HR and marketing.
As for the static events, this year we had the luxury of finishing up the car design with all simulations, iterations and final touches added before the building of the car. This guarantees a more stable performance of the car. Due to the shortage of team members in previous years, this was never possible.
In the design event, this year we applied Lap Time Simulations which has greatly affected our decisions regarding the design regarding the weight, cost,etc. It has also helped us to predict the maximum points to be achieved in the dynamic event.
We also managed to organise two different offline campaigns on campus this year with a 3 day workshop to help introduce the concept of the competitions to fresh students in their first year of study who are looking forward to join the team.
This year we succeeded in establishing an organisational structure for the team where job descriptions are fairly assigned and evaluated by heads and directors.
Long term, what are your plans?
Building a sustainable vehicle to pass all dynamic events with maximum allowed points and top ranking in static events by achieving the following levels:
- Detail and component design
- Vehicle level integration and overall handling
- Competition level integration by knowing how to score maximum points
- Project management level by ensuring everything is alright in a sustainable manner
How does your team organise your workload?
Our year starts immediately after we’re back from the competition in August, where we open the online recruitment for new members in late August. In September we’re expected to be done with this phase and members are welcomed through a soft opening before we start the first phase of the year which is the learning phase, a period of two months where members are extensively taught everything about the team and the system they’re working on, they might as well study the old car for more effective learning. At the end of the learning phase the members take quizzes to make sure they know everything about the competition and the rules. Then comes the design phase, where we start virtually building the car and this lasts for another two months, ending this year around January.
After designs are approved from the competition, we hit the metal in our manufacturing phase which we do put a time frame too but sometimes it’s really hard to stick with the time frame for a lot of external factors. After we’re finally done with the manufacturing we assemble the car right before our spring semester finals and then take a finals break, after which we go back in June with our final phase, the testing phase.
Our marketing department also works on organising events and workshops and offline campaigns, in which we try to reach out for as much people as possible and help them know more about the team.
What is new and exciting for your team this year?
Lap time simulations strategy, which allows track segmentation and dynamics simplification by numerical approach, and continuous monitoring of vehicle dynamics and energy requirements
For the first time 2nd and 3rd year students have been accepted into the team, which guarantees that next year the team will have a better foundation of old members to build it up. Usually only seniors and year 4 students were accepted. We also opened the door to more non-technical students, including members from faculties of commerce, law and clinical pharmacy joining the team.
We are working hard on the car’s surface designs with more time and effort spent on designing every part visible to the audience. Starting from the wings and nose to the gear colours, the driver’s suit and the seat. We are also the first Egyptian team to build a 100% EV car on their own with no foreign help, this is not only new on the regional level but also new for our team as we have been building ICs only.
What have been your biggest challenges so far how have you overcome them?
In our electrical department, we couldn’t order a lot of parts due to lack of budget and we had to figure out a coding system that would simulate these parts and help make us predict how they will work until we had enough to order them. Our electrical members spent days and nights and a total of 200 hours of pure coding of simulations of the battery management system by using a microcontroller instead. We also faced the same problem with the sensors of the pedals and managed it in the same exact way by using a potentiometer instead.
What made you join Formula Student?
The competition grants us all the practical experience we could ever wish for by working on a real life project that has its own ups and downs, and since our courses syllabus hugely lacks this, the competition has been adding a lot to our experience and has helped us getting better internships. Not only this, but also because of how great the scale of the competition is, it has helped all of us develop the self-discipline to work towards our goals. Simply put, it makes us better humans, both professionally and personally.
What unique things do teams from Egypt bring to the competition?
In our opinion it’s our persistence: we are willing to go all the extra miles, climb all the hard mountains to make our plans work and it has been clear in all the competitions we took place in.
What’s your proudest moment at Formula Student?
For us it was ranking third in the FS Italy 2017, hitting the track in Germany 2016 and being announced as the most challenging team in Germany 2015.
What advice would you give for your fellow teams?
Enjoy it while it lasts. You can always come back next year with a better car and a better team, but try to make the most of what we’ll be experiencing in the 2019 FSUK. And hard work will definitely pay off.
Our warmest thanks go to Al Rowad 2030 a running project of the Ministry of Planning that has granted us with all the financial and emotional support we need. They have been more generous with us than anyone has ever been, we owe them our stable status, and we wouldn’t have made it without them. We would also like to thank El-Teriak group and Ideal Standard for believing in us year after year, plus our sponsors Bender and Hirose Electric Europe.
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