The "EUSS MotorSport" team, which has students from different Engineering specialties, was founded in 2017 and this will therefore be the fifth consecutive year of the EUSS in Formula Student (SAE), a global competition with more than 800 participating universities. "It's a real work experience and a great personal learning experience. Seeing our idea run and making it work is the best reward," says Alicia Camp, Industrial Organization Engineering student and EUSS Motorsport Project Director.
"I always say that in university you study engineering, but here you learn how to be an engineer," says Marc Marsellach, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student at EUSS. "It's like working in a company; it's about applying your knowledge in the real world," resumes Alicia Camp.
The team is currently in the design phase of the new car, the EM-04, and is looking forward to starting the construction phase, which is expected by the end of February. A first test had already been conducted at the beginning of December to test some of the changes that are to be made, and the final single-seater car will then compete with the other competitors in the summer, in an evaluation process that does not only include the results on the track, but also factors such as the business plan, consumption, cost analysis ...
This year, as a novelty for EUSS MotorSport, the internal work methodology has also changed. "This is the first time we are working by projects and not by departments, " explains Alicia Camp again. "We have made sure that the groups are composed of multidisciplinary teams that can manage and carry out the different phases of the project. We are more efficient. Also, it's up to us, not the teachers. If we make a mistake and one part doesn't go well, no one makes note of it, but we will have invested badly and will have to start over."
Each of the 25 active projects, divided into three categories (improvement, innovation and component validation projects), has its own director, who carries out coordination and management tasks. "There is a lot of communication so that there is good planning. It is a rather radical change but we are already seeing many improvements," adds the engineer.
Also, first-year Engineering students at EUSS have the opportunity to join the team in any project from the sponsorship area. “It's a way to present them to the team in an equally necessary and important perspective, like media, social media and sponsors. Without them, the car would not exist."
The passion unleashed by this project is such that many EUSS past pupils are still involved in some way today. Alicia Camp concludes: "Our motto is 'Engineering by Racing', which winks at the EUSS motto, 'Engineering by doing'."
