Brookes University Racing Team To Compete on the World Stage
Silverstone racetrack was the stage for a brand new racing car yesterday. A team of budding engineers from Oxford Brookes University proudly showed off their exciting prototype ISIS03B racing car while receiving anInternational Travel Grant from The Royal Academy of Engineering which will allow them to travel to Detroit, USA next month to compete in the highly prestigious Formula SAE competition.The team will rival 140 other teams from across the world in thecompetition, which requires engineering students to design and build a smallsingle-seater racing car. They have been preparing for the 2004 Formula Student and Formula SAE competition for six months. The ISIS03B car features a student-designed and built composite monocoque chassis with a tubular steel rear subframe. Power comes from a Triumph Daytona 600cc engine that has been fully tuned and mapped in house using the department's own dynomometer. Power to the rear tyres is transmitted through a limited slip differential in order to maximise traction. The car also features a digital dashboard display unit incorporating data loggingfacilities enabling the team to record the vehicles performance that can then be used to optimise the vehicle set up. Clever stuff!This is the first time Oxford Brookes University has competed in theprestigious Formula SAE event. The team will test their car's capabilities in a variety of classes, including Design, Presentation, and Cost, Acceleration, Sprint, Endurance and Fuel Economy.
The team is made up of students who are studying Automotive Engineering in the University's School of Technology. They are: Richard Miller, Tom Li, Tony Moulder, Jason Carpenter, Kiran Devlukia, Danni Garrant, Gemma Lawrence, Lewis Tattersall, Neil Parkhurst, Ian Keen, John Raffles, Chay Anderson, James Austin, Robert Montrose, Chris Cronin, Jamie Cox, Steve Collyer, Craig Dawson, Robin Bartholomew, Patrick Gruber, Anthony Friedlander, Nathan Skinner, Christopher Vince, Phil Roper, Matteo Tirinnanzi, Mathew Pryce, Scott Williams, Chris Williamson, Stephen Etheridge, Kiyoshi Ikegaya, Geoff Hallmark.
Ian Bowbrick, Manager, Post Graduate & Professional Development at the Royal Academy of Engineering says,
"The Royal Academy of Engineering exists to support excellence inengineering and to offer opportunities to our engineers. The International Travel Grant scheme is one way of doing this. The team's superb work in a fascinating area of technology demonstrates great innovation. We wish them every success in Detroit."
