Institution news
Thousands of the world’s best young engineering minds are getting ready for Silverstone as Formula Student UK gears up for its 18th electrifying year.
The competition is the Institution’s flagship event and the world’s largest student motorsport event. It challenges student engineers to design, build and race a single seat racing car in one year.
Formula Student is also the key breeding ground for the Formula 1 pit lane, with competition alumni now working at every F1 team. Hundreds more have progressed to the world’s largest automotive firms where they’re helping to design and engineer the cars of tomorrow.
This year, Ross Brawn, former Team Principal of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, returns as competition patron and will meet students at the opening ceremony.
Ambassadors for 2015 include Paddy Lowe, Executive Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, Willem Toet, Head of Aerodynamics at Sauber F1, former Formula 1 driver David Brabham and BBC science presenter Dallas Campbell.
Lining up at Silverstone will be 135 teams from around the globe, including teams from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, UK and Ukraine.
Thirty 30 electric vehicles and 80 cars with combustion engines have entered the main Class 1 competition this year.
Formula Student 2014 winners Delft University of Technology, from The Netherlands, will return to compete in July alongside the top UK car from Oxford Brookes University.
Jon Hilton, Chairman of Formula Student, said: “Formula Student is the world’s most respected student motorsport event and the sheer number of applications we have received for this year’s event prove it’s going from strength to strength.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that those students taking part are among the best young engineers in the world, and Formula Student provides them with a vital stepping stone in their careers. Whether they go on to work in Formula 1, or help design the cars and aeroplanes of the future, these students will go on to make a very real impact on our society.
”As always, I’m extremely excited to see what engineering innovations will be on show this year and I wish all teams taking part the best of luck.”
The Institution’s Formula Student Partners for 2015 include Robert Bosch UK, Mercedes Benz HPP, GKN and MathWorks.
Visit Formula Student to find out more. Or watch a video on Where to start at Formula Student in 2015.