UBeRacing is the University of Birmingham’s brand new electric Formula Student Team. We are a society of over 40 individuals working together to produce an electric single seat racing car by July 2019. UBeR was started at the beginning of this academic year to provide a fun, rewarding and competitive experience to engineers looking to go into the electrical automotive industry, and a great time for everyone involved. Our aims for this year are to get an electrical powertrain and control system designed build and tested, and the entire car fully designed as well as raising the funds necessary to do this. Not a small job! As well as this we aim to establish a long-lasting and fun society for all our members.
This year we are well on track to achieve most of our goals; our powertrain is ready to be assembled on a test rig in the Electrical Engineering Building and our mechanical design is almost complete. As well as this we’ve raised almost £28,000 of the £45,000 we need for our first car. We were fortunate enough to receive Alumni Impact Funding from the University’s Alumni Office so a huge thank you to everyone who generously donated! Plus, our membership has ballooned from a few founding members to over 40 regularly contributing engineers, all working on projects to get the car race-ready.
The team at present is split up into a few divisions, each led by a second year electrical engineering student. The Leadership Team is led by me, Max Ruffels, the team's founder. This group keeps all departments on track and oversees the main production of all designs for the car. The Powertrain Team is led by Andrei Vieru and is responsible for supplying all the power the car will need. From the battery to the motor, powertrain is our most expensive department with a budget of £30,000 in our first car. The Control Team is led by Alex Taylor; expert control is essential in a successful electric car. This department is in charge of keeping the car constantly electrically safe and ensuring that power is used efficiently to get the best times on track without running out of charge. Our Mechanics Team is our largest department due to its all-encompassing of every mechanical system the car uses. Steven Sun is our Head of Mechanics and his job is to manage the design of mechanical systems all over the car. Within Mechanics there are currently projects underway to design the cars differential, suspension, chassis and potentially some aerodynamic devices.
As a new society, and in such an exciting field, we're always looking for support. If you would like to get involved, can help with our design and production, are interested in sponsoring or partnering with us, or would simply like to join in the fun we’d love to hear from you. Either email us at UBecoRacing@gmail.com, check out our website, follow us on Instagram, join us on Facebook or even call in to one of our team meetings; every Tuesday at 5:00pm in room N225 in the Gispert Kapp Building. We hope to meet you soon!
Also, as a new society in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, we’re entering in the EPS Societies’ Awards for the very first time. If you’re impressed with what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time please nominate us!
Best wishes,
Max Ruffles
Founder and Team Principal
