Please introduce your university and team!
I’m Roger O’Brien, the Team Principal and Faculty Advisor for Sun Racing, the Formula Student team from the University of Sunderland. We have taken part in Formula Student since 2003, when we first entered as class 2, then the following year progressing to class 1. 2018 will be the 14th car we have developed for the event for class 1. (2014 we did a 2 year build and entered class 2). Our car for 2018 is an internal combustion engine powered car with a tubular steel spaceframe chassis and carbon fibre body work. This year we have 35 members in our team drawn from across the university, as our Formula Student team is set up as a student society. We actively encourage anybody interested in Formula Student from whatever course they study to get involved in the project both for the diverse skills they can bring and also the experience of working in a team alongside people from other disciplines which can bring an interesting mix of ideas. The team is set up to replicate the sort of structures seen in a real world automotive project. We have our team captain and deputy, who take on organisational and management responsibility, under the faculty advisor as the Team Principal, and then we break the project down into modules, each with a sub team lead as well as a deputy, who will hopefully move up to being the lead the following year. The students select which module they wish to be part of, so they are working on an area that is of interest to them. Our modules are broken down into six areas: Aerodynamics, Chassis, Electrical, Media & Business, Powertrain and Suspension.
How long have you been involved as the FA for the team?
I have been the FA now for 3 years, and I am pleased to say we have got our car to the track and taken part in dynamic events on each of those occasions. We are hoping this year that its 3rd time lucky and finish endurance too, with last years car just coming up short and breaking down on lap 16.
What do you see as the most important part of the FA’s role?
Here at Sun Racing we see the most important part of the FA role is really to mentor the team and ensure the Formula Student experience is as rich and varied as possible, in order to bring additional value to the time the students volunteer to be part of the team. We set out to do this by running the project as reflective of a real automotive or industry project, and in doing so our students gain a true understanding of the full range of things that are required to deliver a successful project that they can take with them in their future careers regardless of their course.
How do you encourage students to develop?
The role we take is to constantly challenge the students to achieve the best they possibly can. We were fortunate to take a group of our team to Red Bull previously, and that really brought home to the team what we were trying to do in terms of pushing things further. They sat with senior engineers for over 2 hours who discussed the development for the car in great details asking the students lots of difficult questions, and really making them work for the tour they got. They left with a very different view and understood better what we were doing in challenging them. Why was a part 500g for example, and could it not be 490g, don’t settle for just good enough. We also try to develop the broader skills around project management. Each week our module leads and captains meet with myself and have to present summary progress reports, identifying any issues or roadblocks, encouraging them to be open and honest about what is happening as we don’t want to know what is going well we really want to know what will come along and bite us and how can we avoid or recover that. The importance of timing plans and planning is drummed into the team, which again benefits them both in their studies and future careers. Whilst technically it is important they develop their learning and skills, we see it as equally as important that Formula Student allows the team to develop their wider organisation and Management skills, as well as picking up more practical and hands on skills along the way.
How does Formula Student fit into the academic work at the university?
As we said earlier our Formula Student team is officially a student society, however, it is managed out of our School of Engineering, who budget for and support the project. Whilst at present Formula Student is not formally part of the engineering curriculum we are currently explore ways how we can bring more elements of that into the core academic modules through refresh of our course offerings plus new course and modules that are in development within the engineering team. We offer Automotive Engineering as one of our Undergraduate courses and so many of the examples used in that course will be loosely based on reference to cars similar to Formula Student type designs. In addition the project generates a large number of final year projects for our undergraduate and masters engineering students. Formula student is also valuable to us for engagement with schools and colleges, as well as open days. Everybody always loves the chance to sit in a race car!
What are your objectives for this year’s competition?
For 2018 we are looking to run a competitive car that completes all dynamic events. Behind this we aim to complete scrutineering by early Friday afternoon, so that we can again take part in the parade lap this year, as we did last year too(although that was only just in time!). We know that may be a challenge this year with more teams back on the grid and the return of some of the overseas teams who are always organised, so we are expecting bigger scrutineering queues this year, but we hop our pre event in house work will help us get smoothly through scrutineering. Last year we managed to have quite and efficient engine map, so we will also hope to score well in fuel efficiency with some of the enhancements we have made to this years car, unfortunately last year whilst being efficient we were just a little too slow, probably not helped by starting in the damp weather and a couple of off course excursions, which we will eliminate this year with more practise too.
How close are you to finishing your car?
We are currently on track with our build, and should be in a position to test the basic running car in the next few weeks. Our target that I set the team this year was to have the car ready for testing prior to the exam period, so that they can then focus on their studies and return after the exams to fine tune and put the finishing touches to the car, along with lots of testing. Our chassis is fully finished and painted; the engine is mounted in the car and has been run successfully. The suspension is on, although we mounted to some old uprights as we are just finishing the machining of new uprights for this year which will allow us to incorporate an improved braking system. We don’t want to be on the video this year doing a 180 degree spin in brake test. Our exhaust system has been developed completely new for the car and will be unique to formula student, and initial testing is very promising. Body work is progressing well and moulds are being produced as I write this. We have already had some test sessions using last years car as a mule vehicle to test out aspects of the new car on so fingers crossed things are looking good and coming together well.
How does your team organise your workload?
Our weekly team meetings are essential to managing everybody’s workloads. This is where the team can highlight any delays or issues and even chase me up if I am late on getting them some information back or approving a design or drawing. This way we have clear and transparent communication and everything is tracked on minutes so no issues get lost. We are hoping to adopt a new electronic system in future years to help seamlessly track issues and progress to try to give the whole team a real-time dashboard view of the project status.
What is new and exciting for your team in 2018?
This year sees a number of new and exciting changes for us at Sun Racing. For the first time in a number of years we have a larger and more diverse team which brings a fresh dynamic to the team. For example we include nursing students and pharmacy students in our team this year, courses that haven’t previously been represented. We have also had the benefit this year of the donation of a team van which in parallel with the FS car progressing the team has worked on to adapt it to transport our car to the test track and other events. Students have worked to fit out the interior and install a vehicle ramp to the van, as well as tidying it up (it wasn’t donated for no reason, so it has needed a little TLC) and fitting a side awning so we can exhibit the cars at local events and schools too regardless of the weather. Our new exhaust system that we have developed with support from our exclusive sponsorship from Vortex is exciting to see how that performs, hopefully giving us better fuel efficiency, more power and less noise. Once more in 2018 we have teamed up with Weardale Racing, our local privateer Isle of Man TT team, and 8 members of Sun Racing will travel to the TT to support and work with Ian ‘Pixie’ Pattinson, a former Manx GP winner. Here the team members will help Ian in all aspects of his preparation of his 2 bikes for the TT, in conjunction with his own team of mechanics (one of whom is our University Automotive Technician, Paul Smith), getting unparalleled access in scrutineering, parc ferme, the pit lane, paddock and the start finish line, as well as trophy nights. Ian wears the logos of Sun Racing, AMAP and the University of Sunderland, with his bikes resplendent in the University colours. This is a truly amazing and unforgettable experience for the students lucky enough to be able to attend.
What have been your biggest challenges this year and how have you overcome these?
The biggest challenge we have faced this year has been probably to do with our body work and aerodynamic package. This is the first year we have really attempted to do a full aero package and this has stretched the team working on that aspect of the project. They have had to learn new skills as well as overcome issues around manufacturability of some of the concepts. However they have stuck at the task and made encouraging progress, with our main body being well under way now, so they can focus their efforts on maximising the benefits from the additional aerodynamic elements between now and the competition. Hopefully they can now get this complete in time for our testing program commencing in late May and through June so we can gather more data and refine any problems.
We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, what are you celebrating in 2018?
Whilst FS is celebrating its 20th anniversary, both I and our TT rider, Ian, celebrate significant birthdays this year, mine quite close to the event too, so hopefully the team can give us something additional to celebrate, not that we ever mix motorsport and excessive celebration.
What do SUN Motorsport bring to the competition?
We have very much tried to change our approach to the competition over the 3 years I have been involved in Formula Student, and I’d like to think our continuous improvement over these years is testament to us being on the right tracks. Whilst it is a competition we also like to try to be true to the spirit of Formula Student and if a fellow team are struggling in the pits we will try to help them if possible. As a result we have made some great and lasting friendship with teams from both
Catch up with Sun Racing and over 130 teams who will be competing at Silverstone this year - spectator tickets for 13-15 July 2018 are available now via the Silverstone website.