A team of eighty students are building an electric racing car at Ghent University which will take part in Formula Student competitions from next year. In this, universities around the world compete with self-built cars. A dream school for future engineers and economists. But UGent Racing – that’s the name of the team – also has an ambitious goal: to climb into the European top 3 within five years.
Ghent University has officially put its weight behind the student associations which began to build in July 2021. The first prototype was presented to the press on Monday, but it cannot yet run independently. A driver can reach speeds of around 30 km / h with the car, although in theory this could be much higher. The students mainly want to learn from the first model.
“We are learning a lot from this,” says Captain Yarne De Munck. He sees it as an essential addition to the university curriculum. “It’s mostly theory, with the exception of a few practice sessions. But now we can work on a concrete project. We put theory into practice and see immediate results. The future of autonomous vehicles in particular is exciting for students and the plan to allow their race cars to drive autonomously is ready.
“We believe that self-driving cars are part of the future,” says De Munck. “We can already see them appearing in the streets today, even if they are not yet fully autonomous. We also believe that we will see a lot less accidents if all the cars are autonomous. Because they will run faster than humans. That is why we think it is interesting to research this technology.
Young people say they are not looking for trophies or cash prizes. “We do this mainly for the fame and passion of the students,” says De Munck. Although young people have no shortage of grinta. “The ambition is to become the world leader. But the Ghent team must first face European teams from Dutch institutions, among others, from Eindhoven and Delft. The University of Zurich in Switzerland is also one of the best in the world.
Over the next academic year, ten master’s theses will be held at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, in which students will work full-time on the automobile. The students come from the engineering disciplines CenEka (computer civil engineering and electrical engineering) and PKarus (civil engineer mechanical-electrical engineering).
They are divided into sub-teams that focus on traditional disciplines such as chassis, suspension, drivetrain and steering. But also innovative aspects such as tension and autonomy. Funding is provided by the Business Department, in which economics students participate.
The prototype was assembled for a sloppy sum of 30,000 euros. A light blue car that looks like Formula 1. Student associations have raised the necessary funds with a number of activities. But the first road tests convinced sponsors like Jaguar and Proximus to form partnerships. This is necessary, as the successor to the existing race car will be much more advanced and the team is aiming for a budget of around 150,000 euros to take the step towards the European summit.
Ghent University has officially put its weight behind the student associations which began to build in July 2021. The first prototype was presented to the press on Monday, but it cannot yet run independently. A driver can reach speeds of around 30 km / h with the car, although in theory this could be much higher. The students above all want to learn from the first model: “We are learning a lot from it,” explains Captain Yarne De Munck. He sees it as an essential addition to the university curriculum. “It’s mostly theory, with the exception of a few practice sessions. But now we can work on a concrete project. We put theory into practice and see immediate results. The future of autonomous vehicles is particularly exciting for students, and the plan to let their race cars run autonomously is ready. “We believe that self-driving cars are part of the future,” says De Munck. “We can already see them appearing in the streets today, even if they are not yet fully autonomous. We also believe that we will see a lot less accidents if all the cars are autonomous. Because they will run faster than humans. That is why we think it is interesting to research this technology. Young people say they don’t want trophies or cash prizes. “We do this mainly for the fame and passion of the students,” says De Munck. Although young people have no shortage of grinta. “The ambition is to become the world leader. But the Ghent team must first face European teams from Dutch institutions, among others, from Eindhoven and Delft. The University of Zurich in Switzerland is also one of the best in the world. Over the next academic year, ten master’s theses will be held at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, in which students will work full-time on the automobile. The students come from the engineering disciplines CenEka (computer civil engineering and electrical engineering) and PKarus (civil engineer mechanical-electrical engineering). They are divided into sub-teams that focus on traditional disciplines such as chassis, suspension, drivetrain and steering. But also innovative aspects such as tension and autonomy. Funding is provided by the Business Department, in which economics students participate. The prototype was assembled for a sloppy sum of 30,000 euros. A light blue car that looks like Formula 1. Student associations have raised the necessary funds with a number of activities. But the first road tests convinced sponsors like Jaguar and Proximus to form partnerships. This is necessary, as the successor to the existing race car will be much more advanced and the team is aiming for a budget of around 150,000 euros to take the step towards the European summit.