Formula Student surprises

So what perceptions of mine were broken? One was over the EV category. I was expecting a lot of ‘off-the-shelf’ components bolted into cars, cobbled together to get them running. I think my own ignorance to the EV class had probably wrongly shaped this opinion. What was on display was a range of custom designed and built batteries, motor control units, and some incredible motor installations in a wide range of architectures.

The ‘mechanical’ engineering aspect of the competition is also not lost through going EV. I had wrongly thought an EV car would be surrounded by electrical engineers and programmers. Of course, nothing wrong with this, but as a mechanical engineer, I think there was an ill-informed sense of being pushed out of a competition with roots set in mechanical engineering. This couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Whilst there were of course an increased number of electrical engineers and programmers, from a mechanical sense designing and engineering the installation of an E-motor is no different to an engine. If anything, perhaps more of a mechanical challenge since multiple motors are the key to success, each needing a custom designed gearbox. What was striking when talking with the EV entries, was a strong integration between mechanical and electrical departments. There was clearly a lot of respect flowing both ways, largely due the fact they each clearly appreciated the wider range of engineering abilities required to make an EV entry not just work, but be competitive. Strong interdepartmental communication to achieve a common goal – isn’t that the same target as working in industry – motorsport or otherwise?

Team spirit

The biggest, and I guess longest standing perception I had was a sense of arrogance from FS team members. I was struck however, by the camaraderie and support amongst the universities. With the competitive nature of professional motorsport, I was expecting a similar closed-door policy between teams. What I witnessed was people proud and eager to discuss the fine details of their car, with anyone that showed interest. Jaded old race engineers, proud parents, or fellow students from other teams. The support for each other was best summed up when I saw a meeting amongst a handful of universities, with someone giving a crash course in how he had made the Brake System Plausibility Device (BSPD) safety system work, and helping fault diagnose others issues based on his own experience. I got the sense that everyone appreciated how hard it is to get a car to the competition and through scrutineering and they wanted others to achieve the same.

I was also struck by the sense of support within the teams themselves. It was clear there was a sense of pride, individually but also what they had achieved collectively. I heard more comments of admiration for others in the team, than wanting to sing their own praises. This was best summed up with Warwick University, who when asked about the biggest change from last year, launched into how they had changed the culture, social, and support network within the team. I had meant the car itself, but the car wouldn’t exist without the team of people and a strong and supportive work ethic.

If the competition itself is the reason for a hard work ethic and strong team spirit, or simply the vehicle to indulge and encourage what is already there in the students is hard to quantify, and perhaps not important. What is important, is the competition offers promising young engineers of the future a chance to push themselves, academically, mentally, and socially. It is unlikely that these young adults have been pushed so hard, for so long, in a team environment ahead of working in Formula Student. Neither is it likely to have worked closely with other disciplines of engineering. Of course, there are those that drop out along the way for various reasons, it doesn’t mean these aren’t promising engineers with bright futures. It used to frustrate me when I would hear some of my younger colleagues tell me it wasn’t uncommon to not make the first round of selection for graduate jobs if FS wasn’t on the CV. I guess it was due to the fact I didn’t have it on mine, and I felt like my career has turned out largely as I wanted. But, and it’s a big but, I get it now.

I understand the sense of pride, sometimes verging on arrogance of some people I’ve worked alongside when they talk about their FS team, sometimes from 10 to 15 years in the past. I now appreciate the glint in their eyes when talking about it. I guess in some ways, I had mistaken this pride for arrogance, but also I have to question if it was a long standing buried jealously of not having competed in it myself. I won’t be joining those who instantly dismiss a graduate CV if FS isn’t present, however there will now have to be clear evidence of something that replicates the engineering and communication skills built from participation in the competition.

Closing thoughts

I came away from the competition having spent more days there than a typical race weekend in professional motorsport, however I certainly wasn’t longing to get away. I did leave however, with an infinitely better understanding of the competition itself, and an admiration of the teams of young engineers and the efforts to get a car there. I am already looking forwards to FSUK 2024, in part to see if the promises of next years plans from a number of teams bears fruit.

I also now understand how Formula Student is celebrating its 25^th anniversary in the UK, and the continued growth on a global scale shows no signs of slowing. The number of competitions in different countries continue to grow, and the EV, hybrid and AI cars keeps the competition relevant to the automotive industry. With the launch of Formula Student Africa being announced this year, there is certainly one new FS fan who will be making their way out for the first competition.

Conflux Technology Contacts

Abe Magdy, North America

Peter Rosker, Europe Africa & Middle East

Masao Koriyama, Japan

Robert Alvey, Asia

Ben Batagol, Australia & Pacific

The series is very much in its early stages. The race boat itself is still an early prototype, so many of the technical details are still not in the public domain, but what is public is that it’s a battery-electric platform with a top speed of close to 50kts (58mph) and will weigh around 800kg. It’s also a foiling boat and so uses hydrofoils to raise the hull above the water at a certain speed. Foiling boats are much more efficient than traditional hull designs in drag but are also more manoeuvrable. Given that hydrofoils work in much the same way as aerofoils, a foiling boat as a vehicle responds more closely to an aeroplane than a traditional boat. 

Here’s where it gets interesting and a little technical. Any object in free space has 6 degrees of freedom or ‘displacement modes’. Similarly to the automotive world, these modes are identified as roll, pitch, yaw, and vertical (heave). In addition to this, the marine world identifies lateral movement (sway) and longitudinal (surge) movement. Traditionally, many of these modes are passively controlled by the boat’s hull’s hydrostatic forces, making for an inherently stable platform. In foiling boats as the speed reaches the point where the produced lift is sufficient to raise the hull out of the water, the passive control of roll, heave, pitch and yaw offered by the hull is lost and maintaining stability becomes a whole lot more complicated from a controls perspective.

In a similar capacity to a fighter jet, the E1 RaceBird is likely to have some level of automated control system to make continual adjustments to the control surfaces and keep the boat stable over the race conditions. Without this, the driver would have a very hard time. These hydrodynamic considerations and the challenges in developing the electric propulsion system and charging infrastructure are what catches my interest in a big way. In E1, there are entirely new and innovative ways to gain a competitive advantage.

The benefits of CFD and fluid dynamics research have helped advance boats’ exterior design a long way in recent decades to improve energy efficiency, especially in novel applications such as foiling boats, i.e. SailGP, but propulsion systems have been relatively static for a long time. The basic EV powertrain concept in the E1 is not especially novel in the context of recent automotive developments. Still, for its input into underwater noise emissions and energy efficiency, the propellor is another area that will see some definite advancements as a result of this championship. Such developments will hopefully diffuse out into the wider marine world too.

The E1 is unquestionably a new and unique concept in every sense. Until now, no championship has focused on marine propulsion and high-speed watercraft with such financial and technological focus, so there will undoubtedly be lots of technology transfer in both directions between E1 and the wider worlds of motorsport and technology. The core team behind the E1 series also worked on Formula E and Extreme E, so we can expect some high profile partnerships to be behind the championship’s growth; indeed, it is already getting great support.

For the first few seasons, the boat will be a specification vehicle, so the entire grid will be in identical craft, but the organisers do plan to open up the technical regulations to allow for innovation to come in. We can expect some to find some great engineering opportunities as the series matures. The launch event of the boat was at Monaco Yacht Club which, a beautiful venue overlooking Port Hercule and almost going without saying, were some well-established guests from the motorsport world such as David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan, Nico Rosberg, as well as some very senior engineering representation from some big technology suppliers. 

As we arrived, the boat was undercover but what was immediately striking was the sharp design feature running along the flank on both sides – it set the mood well. As E1 revealed the cover, I couldn’t help but agree with the comments I heard referencing the design to something which wouldn’t look out of place in a James Bond film. After speaking with the chief designer at SeaBird technologies, who is responsible for the boat’s design, it’s clear how important it was to get the design language of the project right. As any designer will sympathise, there are often moments of despair followed by those special eureka moments which become key design features. The impression I got of the creative process for the RaceBird was no different. Credit has to be given; it’s a great vehicle to look at.

Racing is due to start in 2023 in oceans, rivers and lakes around the world. If executed successfully, the E1 could be a great vehicle to start the right conversations and gather the right audiences to develop tangible initiatives to restore balance in our waters. I’ve always seen motorsport’s potential as a valuable tool for society, so I will be looking forward to being part of the development of this one. The team I’m working with are in advanced discussions with the E1 group around our entry into the championship and making it happen, so if any organisations are interested in exploring a partnership with us, please do contact me at: contact@waveydynamics.com

Congratulations to the E1 for organising a successful event.

Motorsport is a huge multifaceted industry with personnel working in all sciences, engineering, logistics, sponsorship, business management, accounting, IT, manufacturing, design, marketing, media, photography, and many more. However, as Lewis Hamilton highlighted in 2020, “the institutional barriers that have kept Formula 1 highly exclusive persist.” Said institutional barriers that Hamilton refers to could be considered to be the culture of motorsport.

Often when people discuss race, the word culture comes into conversation. Culture by definition is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behaviour and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups. In a bid to not least improve the diversity of motorsport, but also its culture, a few movements have started in the motorsport community.

The Hamilton Commission

In the summer of 2020, Lewis Hamilton launched The Hamilton Commission. This commission is a research initiative with the Royal Academy of Engineering that will be used to “engage more young people from black backgrounds in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and, ultimately, employ them on race teams or in other engineering sectors”.

It will also explore areas including lack of role models and career services at schools, opportunities to engage more black youth with STEM extracurriculars, barriers that prevent people from more diverse backgrounds joining the racing industry, and other engineering professions.

The Hamilton Commission has a Board of Commissioners which is an independent group made up of 14 experts in the UK who represent a range of perspectives on the challenge. The Commissioners have been selected to represent a range of expertise and influence including motorsport, engineering, schools, colleges and universities, community / youth groups, as well as major UK political parties.

Driven by Diversity

Another movement, which I am proudly a part of, is called Driven by Diversity which is a global alliance of experts also formed to address the lack of diversity in the motorsport and automotive industry.

The Driven by Diversity ethos is that the future of the motorsport industry depends on our ability to attract a more diverse audience as well as opening more doors to anyone who wants to compete or work here. The Driven by Diversity network is made up of people who already work in motorsport including media personnel, engineering staff, athletes, technicians, commercial partnership coordinators, and recruitment advisors.

Together we hope to inspire people of diverse backgrounds to make a lateral move from various relevant industries such as aerospace, automotive, IT, finance, accounting, media, marketing, logistics and so on into motorsport. The reason for this approach is to change the diversity of the current generation in motorsport, and more specifically change its culture.

If we are to change the culture of motorsport, the people inside it will too change. This is critical not least for motorsport’s image but it’s progression and sustainability. All industries need to adapt and diversify in order to sustain. 2020 has been a sharp example of how fast the world can change and how adaptable one must be to survive. Formula 1 and all motorsport cannot rest on its laurels.

Movements like The Hamilton Commission tackling the next generation and Driven by Diversity tackling the culture of motorsport today, the future of racing is looking more colourful than ever.

Never in the history of racing has there ever been a person better at sniffing out good coffee than Ricardo Divila. Like the rest of us he could be found lurking somewhere near either an Italian team or tyre company at a race track if his team had been remiss enough not to bring a proper coffee machine itself. Even when he wasn’t connected to a team but was at a track just to scan and search for a new way to get to Le Mans to try to win it he still knew enough engineers and team members that he could find coffee. What was a measure of him was that he knew a lot of people, young engineers and old hands and each were happy to help him in his quest for caffeine.

Others will write about Ricardo’s life as a Formula 1 designer and engineer, about the Copersucar programme with the Fittipaldis or will write about his exploits in Japan with Super GT. Some may even write about his attempts to win Le Mans overall with Nissan. Some who knew him will write about the trepidation to answer a Skype call from him in the summer; there was every chance that he was on video and in his underpants.

However, I’ll write about what I knew and that was of a brilliant mind, a high intellect and a humour that transcended pretty much all situations. He was fascinated by anything that was unusual. Anything that was out of the ordinary and would distract Ricardo from every day engineering would prick his interest and he would quickly find out who was involved (normally someone he worked with) and then would head off to find out what he could. There was another driving force behind him and that was the desire to teach.

There was a slight problem with that latter point. Organisation was not his strong point, probably due to the incredible amounts of caffeine that he had in his bloodstream. His features for Racecar Engineering were delivered after an all-nighter trying to get his documents in order. What was delivered was outstanding work although he was often slightly offended when his original efforts had to be cut to fit the pages available. He decided that he liked the internet where space was less of a constraint although never got around to writing the pieces he wanted to; he was just too busy.

But he wanted to write. He wanted the information that was on his various computers and hard drives distributed to a wider community. He worried intensely that young engineers were losing their reason to question what they were doing. Computers were tools that could help to speed up processing, but he was a passionate believer in what Danny Nowlan often terms ‘hand calculations’. A series of articles explaining the reasoning behind the figures was planned for this year and he was looking forward to writing them.

He also wanted to explain the reasoning behind the GTR-LM project for Nissan. There was a reason why the company spent more than 70 million Euros on the programme and Ricardo wanted to explain the sound engineering logic behind the programme. Without a single NDA signed he was perfectly placed to write the features.

But Ricardo’s best-known exploits in Racecar Engineering were his columns. Often, he would look forward to a race sat on the pit wall on deadline, the Spa 24-hours for example, because he could have 20 minutes mid-stint to crash out what often turned out to be his finest work. That said, when he thought about his columns, they were even funnier. He wrote one about sexually transmitted diseases and compared the details behind contracting them to allowing manufacturers to writing regulations for motor racing. Few could ever make that link.

His rants were always impossible to argue and often contained a whole world of humour. Writing on Twitter as the Platypus of Doom or the Clam of Calamity he explored his own racing history with a degree of that same self-deprecating humour. He was just a funny guy, with an intelligence that outshone many. He was always reading some philosophical book or challenging established thinking.

I first learned of his ill health when his wife phoned to warn us not to expect his column or his feature on suspension kinematics as he had been admitted to hospital for a scan for pancreatic cancer and shortly afterwards had a stroke. He continued to tweet and email, but two weeks ago that stopped. It turned out that he had slipped into a coma, and it was with tremendous sadness that today, Saturday April 25, we learned of his death. It was not surprising; although he didn’t drink he did everything else to excess.

While he would not share a beer or whiskey with me when he was alive, I shall raise a glass to a great friend this evening with a tear in the eye and a smile. He has gone to investigate the next great mystery of life. I just worry that he will find some way of letting us know how he is getting on. I hope he gets dressed first.

To read the best of Ricardo Divila’s columns download the digimag below