IT WASN’T the winning but the taking part that mattered at the home of British F1 for Liverpool engineering students who designed their own racing car.
Liverpool John Moores University Formula Student Racing Team gained 21st place with their first Class 1 entry in the International Formula Student 2010 competition involving over 70 teams at Silverstone in July.
Having won the Class 2 design categories at Silverstone last year, the LJMU Formula Student Racing Team was ready for a Class 1 entry this year, after successfully passing the application process judged by the Formula Student Steering Committee.
In addition to the production work and technical skills, the students also develop business and marketing strategy experience, particularly through the corporate sponsorship campaign.
Recent LJMU Corporate Award winners, Aintree Racecourse, played its part by allowing the LJMU Formula Student Racing Team to test the car at the race track – once also famous for hosting the British Grand Prix,
This enabled them to get to the right standard to race at Silverstone and enter this 2010 Formula Student event.
Jack Clisby, LJMU Formula Student Team Manager, said: “We are proud that all our efforts have led to this excellent Class 1 result at Silverstone 2010.
“The LJMU team consists of members from allŠ levels of engineering students, which has increased productivity.
“It also allows even the younger students to be involved in all aspects of the car from building to design.
“We have also gained some very important experience in building corporate relationships.”
Prof Michael Brown, Vice-Chancellor of LJMU, said: “This is a fabulous result at their first attempt against major international competition – beating all other regional university competition.
“Most importantly, it was impressive to see the impact of this project on the student team – developing engineering and project management skills in a real situation.”
ProfŠIan Jenkinson, LJMU School of Engineering, Technology and Maritime Operations director, said: “I would like to congratulate the team on this fantastic achievement.
“Many companies have been involved in the sponsorship strategy, with new additions in 2010 alone being Aintree, SamcoSport and Fuchs.
“Businesses involved in the sponsorship deals bring valuable technical assistance and components, but they also gain access to Šfuture engineers through interaction with students.”
Formula Student is the biggest and most important of its kind in Europe.
It is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), in partnership with various well- known companies in the industry.
The aim is to promote careers and excellence in engineering, by challenging university students to design, build, develop, market and compete as a team with a small, single-seater racing car.
