Last Friday, there was a lecture session for EG1471 module students. Three speakers were invited to talk on different topics related to engineering but the topic presented by Professor Seah who is the last speaker caught my attention the most. He talked about our very own NUS Formula SAE team. In fact, he is the founder of the team which was established in year 2001. In his presentation, he talked about the background, problems and the annual cycle of the team.
Professor Seah mainly presented on the problems faced by the FSAE team. There are two types of problem faced by them and the first is the problems faced during the production of the race car. Every year, they have to come up with a new design as required by the competition. Furthermore, there are no automobile production in Singapore so they have to purchase some raw materials outside Singapore and sometimes there are delays in delivery of the materials. The lack of race car engineering knowledge also causes more problems to the FSAE team. In addition, there are no suitable venues for them to test their race car.
Secondly, Professor Seah discussed on the problems faced by them in the competition held in the United States of America. The team faced the problem of lack of motor sports culture and racing experience. In order to prepare for the race, the team need to practice but there are no suitable venues for them to train their drivers in Singapore. Since the competition were held in the United States of America, the FSAE team experienced jet lag due to the time difference. Furthermore, pressure vessels which are essential to the race car were not allowed on plane. Therefore, they have to purchase it there. Lastly, the team also did not know the condition of the track and it caused more difficulties to them.
With all these problems mentioned above, our FSAE team still manage to perform so well in the competition especially this year which is the best so far and I hope our NUS FSAE team will be able to be on the top position in the near future.
Written by:
Sara Liew Kar Mun
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ReplyDeleteJust as Sara wrote in this blog, there are many problems faced by our NUS Formula SAE team before and during the competition. Yet, our team can still managed to deliver such great result. Indeed it is not easy for the team to perform such well with that much of problems blocking their way. If it turns out I am part of the team, perhaps I just could not make it as I have to withstand not only the problems but to make matter worse, I scared I will disappoint those who expect me to finish off the job. Pressure put on me by fellow students and professors will simply drive me nuts.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, as Sara mentioned in this blog, they have to come up with a new design as required by the competition every year. And just imagine, they have to design a whole new race car without imitating the previous design in just maybe one month or shorter as this is just the beginning of the construction and only after they finish off the design they can decide which raw materials to buy and so on. The first is always the hardest. So, this is one of the problems faced by them which I think is the most important part of the whole construction.
Secondly, the lack of race car driving experience is also another problem faced by them. Although we have the one and only night time Formula One race, but I have to admit that car race culture is just simply not in our blood. We could hardly find a competent driver in whole Singapore, not to say just in NUS. Therefore for them, the race car team, they have to find another alternative solution, which is train themselves, to do dual-role, as engineer and driver. And a thumb up for them, as they could still perform that well every year.
Finally, I hope our NUS FSAE team will be able to be on the top position in the near future. They really put on a lot of effort for the team and they deserve a better result.
Written by,
Chin Kah Fai.