An Exciting Launch Into The World Of Engineering
In 2018 I took part in the F1 in Schools international STEM competition. As the Lead Engineer of team Vitesse, I directed the design and manufacture of the second fastest car at the UK National Finals of one of the world's most competitive STEM competitions. In the process I learned valuable lessons on how to manage a team under a tight schedule and taught myself the basics of several engineering softwares and engineering concepts which I still use today.
My contributions
I was responsible for convening the engineering team's research into physics, materials, manufacturing, and race stratagies on a schedule to develop a vehicle design which would be ready for race day. I was very involved in this process, working on the iterative prototyping process by utilising test equipment such as a wind tunnel, CO2 canister rigs, and FDM, SLA, and SLS printers. I also created the above CAD model with a teammate who was very knowledgeable on the 98-page technical and competition regulations, and assembled the cars in my bedroom on the week of the competition. It was very interesting to do this alongside the business and finance team who dictated the available budget and required promotional materials needed throughout the process.
The vehicle - Vitesse
The car was a 210 mm long design made using primarily high density foam. It pushed the limits of the technical regulations; we even decided to take a few strategic penalty hits to eek out the optimal performance calculated by our Physics Specialist and achieve a higher overall score. The manufacturing was completed within the tightest tolerance range achievable with the methods of manufacturing we could afford. In the end, the two competition ready cars were both exactly 50.00 g, exactly the minimum legal weight for the competition. The car was propelled down the 20-meter track using a CO2 canister in around 1.2 seconds, achieving the second fastest time at the UK National Finals.
Continued support
Since 2018, I have supported several other teams as an external advisor to help point students in the right direction. I hosted several F1 in Schools masterclasses after classes where I covered the basics of physics concepts such as Bernoulli's principle, the drag equation, ground effect and material properties. This competition was a great kick-start into my Design Engineering career, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested!
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