UCD Formula Student is an independent, student led team who compete in an annual student racing competition at the iconic Silverstone Circuit in the UK.
Formula Student is the world’s largest and most prestigious engineering competition. Organised and run by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, (iMechE), the competition attracts teams from all over the world to compete with a single-seater Formula-style car.
UCDFS compete in the Electric division of Formula Student. They firmly believe that electric vehicles are the future of the automotive industry and motorsport.
The UCDFS team is divided into Mechanical, Electrical and Business teams. Within these teams are specialised roles fulfilled by dedicated, uniquely skilled UCD students.
The results are in! Formula Student UK 2022
UCDFS recently returned from Formula Student UK 2022 in Silverstone. It was their first-time attending Formula Student UK in person since 2019 and what a trip it was. As a college we are proud of the team for representing UCD in such a positive way (and all while having some fun!) They came 11th overall in the Concept Class category, finishing 3rd of the concept class EVs. They also achieved 11th place in the Cost & Manufacturing event, 16th in the Design event, and 14th in the overall Business Plan Presentation! It was an amazing learning experience for all students involved and they are more motivated than ever to get their car out on track in 2023.
Introducing the E299, the UCDFS 2022 Concept Class entry for Formula Student UK
Q&A with UCDFS Team Captain, Shamira Bagnall Hare earlier this year
Tell us a little about yourself?
I'm currently finishing my first year of the ME Mechanical Engineering programme. I'm from Kildare. I'm currently on placement in Cork with Logitech.
Why did you choose to study engineering at UCD?
I chose UCD for many reasons. Firstly, UCD offers the widest range of engineering stream and while I was pretty sure I wanted to study mechanical engineering (spoiler alert: I did!), I still wanted to explore as many options as possible. Additionally, UCD offers a lot of sports and also runs the Horizons programme through which I could continue my language studies. However, it was mostly the feeling I got when I stepped onto the UCD campus on the Open Day tours. UCD felt like home in a way that no other university did. Everybody I met felt genuinely happy and I wanted the same.
What has your experience of studying Mechanical Engineering been like so far?
I've really enjoyed my time studying mechanical engineering at UCD. I love how much practical work we get to do. My highlight so far has been when I got to participate in a lab using UCD's wind tunnel. It was a surreal moment tilting an airfoil in the airstream and feeling it being pulled up and down by lift and drag, something I'd been curious about my whole life.
Tell us about UCDFS, how you got involved in it and the team you are working with?
UCDFS is Ireland's only electric Formula Student team made up of 70+ members. Formula Student UK challenges over 160 university teams from 30 countries to design, build and race a single-seater race car. Within Mech, Elec and Business sub-teams, our members prepare for a range of Static and Dynamic events which judge excellence in engineering design, performance, and business strategy. We then compete at Silverstone in July.
How do you and the other students benefit from being part of the UCDFS?
Every student who joins UCDFS benefits massively from gaining practical engineering project experience. They gain experience taking a project from concept to completion while following a set design brief. This is almost identical to the real word projects that they will engage in in their future careers. They then get the opportunity to present their design at the Formula Student UK competition hosted at the home of the British GP in Silverstone Circuit in the UK. Here we meet like minded individuals and industry experts.
Tell us about the UCDFS outreach activities?
Our outreach activities have changed drastically since covid. Unfortunately, we have not been able to visit schools but we hope that later in 2022 there will be a return to in person school visits. However, last year during the pandemic we collaborated with one of our sponsors, Johnson & Johnson to produce an educational course and associated video content for 6th class students on motorsport and engineering design. This was a very successful event and we hope to continue this work in person with more schools in late 2022. This year we have virtually supported a F1 in Schools team called Rockabill Racing.
What direction do you envisage for your engineering career?
I obviously love F1 and would love to end up working in the industry. I'm very passionate about design, fluid dynamics and CAD modelling so something that combines all three areas of interest would be great. I'm currently exploring options for my final year project and I've discovered adjoint topological shape optimisation which could be very applicable to the aerodynamics in F1 and also ties in CAD and design so maybe something in that area but I'm still open to any ideas.
What were some of your goals as Team Captain?
One of my goals for the year as Captain was to increase female participation on the engineering side of the team. We've always had a strong female participation in the Business team but during my first two years on the team I was the only girl on the engineering side of things. This year we had 11 girls on the engineering team compared to one last year. This is an achievement I am extremely proud of. It is great to see so many girls stepping into roles they always should have felt at home in. I am hoping this number will continue to grow in the coming years.
Additionally, our captaincy team is made up of eight people. Last year the captains were all male. This year our team featured three female leaders including myself. I was joined by Anna Mei Chan Kinsella who was Business Captain; she is in stage 3 of Computational Social Science and Katie Garrett who was Vice Business Captain; she is in Stage 2 of her BA in English with Creative Writing.
One of our pillars this year has been Diversity & Inclusion and I am incredibly proud of the work we have done to make everybody feel welcome on our team this year regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or any disability. UCDFS is a place where everybody is welcome to learn and grow.
https://www.ucdfs.ie
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Thank you to all the sponsors of this year’s UCDFS who make it possible for the team to compete - UCD College of Engineering & Architecture, Kirby Group, Autoline Car Sales and Irish Ferries.