Formula Student and Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) are the most well-known student automotive competitions. These events were founded with the aim of giving students the chance to compete with each other and to put into practice knowledge acquired during the academic years. Almost all continents are included, where well-known sponsors and all teams are given the chance to compete on some of the most prestigious world circuits.
In these competitions, each competing team designs, builds and tests their rendition of a prototype formula-style car, which must be subject to accurate regulations. Having the fastest car is not the aim of the competition, but rather the one with the best overall combination of performance, cost-effectiveness, producibility and saleability. For this reason, the key to success lies in the efficiency of teamwork and the exchange of information and knowledge in optimizing the development phases of the project.
Tests are divided into two different groups for both races:
- Static events (3):
Cost and Manufacturing
Business Plan Presentation
Engineering Design - Dynamic tests (5):
Acceleration
Skid Pad
Autocross
Endurance
Efficiency
Each of these tests corresponds to different scores:
These championships represent a great opportunity to learn how to manage these various situations in the real world, also dealing with the monetary aspects in the realization of the project, achievable only with the application of knowledge acquired during the years of learning in the university.
