Award for Brunel Racing team

The students, who are studying for degrees in either Mechanical Engineering with Automotive Design or Motorsport Engineering, were presented with the prize for Best Virtual Development, which was sponsored by MSC Software.

They were also the runner-up in their business presentation to the judges and finished in the top four for both the design and cost presentation.

Team leader Sam Davies, 24, said: “I did a lot of engine simulation with a program called Ricardo WAVE. We pulled together very well as a team and it was excellent learning experience for Brunel Racing's future.“

Team principal Murat Ali, who graduated with a first class Masters of Engineering (MEng) degree in Mechanical Engineering this summer, added that the car runs, rather unconventionally in motor sport, on bio-fuel E85. “The Italians love our team and car!“ he said. “We were one of the most innovative vehicles there.“

Team member Kushaal Sharma, 21, who was in charge of the car's suspension, said the Formula Student project included the experience of marketing, as well as designing, analysing and manufacturing components.

And Kwaku Gueye, 24, who was responsible for the driving controls, said: “This is one of the things that I wanted to do at this university. I also wanted to play basketball. And I did both.“

The Brunel Racing team is no stranger to awards: it took first prize in Class Two of the annual Formula Student racing competition, last year.

Formula Student is an annual competition open to universities across the world, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), in partnership with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
It challenges university students to design, build, develop, market and compete as a team with a small, single seater racing car. Formula ATA is the Italian version of the event.


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