Sorry that the blog has been a bit empty in the last two months! University work and exams took over for (almost) everyone so the team were concentrating on finishing their degrees. But now, we can do what we have wanted to do, which is complete the build of the car.
Formula Student Germany (FSG) had their Rules Quiz on 2nd May, which was online and against the clock to see if we would come out on top for Scrutineering queue order. It is paramount we get high in the queue so we can get our car in for Technical Inspection and do some testing on the track during the weekend, rather than waiting for other universities to complete their inspections first. We completed it in 2 minutes 30 seconds, which is one of the fastest times we have ever produced in the quiz. However, we won’t be able to find out until nearer the time where we finished against the other universities. Fingers crossed we got in the top three!!
Also, we had a visit from Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE) to present us with a cheque for £2,500! This will help us immensely in making sure we have the funding to finish the car as well as attend competition. Thank you to them for taking the time to shortlist us as one of the winners and visit to see what the current production of the car is looking like.
There is lots of welding and grinding going on in our Fabrication room so it is getting really tight for workspace. On top of that, there is a lot of filming happening for our launch video. I am hoping that the end result will be really good, but there will be a lot of trawling through daily footage for the next month and grabbing all the best bits of the action.
The Electrical department have been making the wiring for the whole car. I spoke to them about how they planned where and how all the electrical connections were going around the car and they told me it was really hard work!! I give a lot of credit to them as it is underrated just how much has to go into to make this car work and keeping it compact!
Our machine shop is full of volunteers from the team manufacturing parts needed for the car. Unfortunately, there is limited time to work within every day so work has to be sorted in order of priority. They are getting through the workload nicely so we should be finished in there soon.
We now work every day, including bank holidays. This seems like a lot, but a lot of race teams would be working similar hours leading up to and throughout a season, so it is something we have had to adjust to. Recently, there was Slam Dunk Festival (indie and rock music) on our university campus and as it was a sunny day, we were able to spend time building the car but have a BBQ as well!! It was nice to take a small break from the car just to eat!
One of our Static Events had a deadline at the end of May: Cost Report. It is one of the most time consuming and complex things I have ever come across. Thankfully, we were able to complete it as a team and ensure that all the parts of the car were accounted for in the total cost. People also volunteered to help collate it and check the work, which made the whole job so much easier. I wouldn’t have wanted to be the poor soul left with that job by myself!
It’s hard to believe that a 3/4 year journey is (almost) over! After Formula Student, we are no longer students of the University of Hertfordshire. A lot of us have jobs ready to go into, or are being interviewed for potential jobs, which show just how valuable our degrees are seen in current times. The job market can be seen as a daunting prospect but I hope a lot of the graduates will do well!
Very soon, the car will be put together and launched in front of sponsors, the university, family and friends. As that deadline is approaching us, I must get back to doing what I can do to help the team be ready for Silverstone in July. As always, I would like to thank our sponsors, family and friends for their on-going support to build and race with UH17. Without you, a lot of the work we are able to do now would not have been possible!
Stephanie Alexander.
P.S. I think you all know what I am going to say here: the social media trio of Facebook, Twitter and our own website!! Take a look, follow/like and keep updated with our progress!