Engineering students to turn racers

It’s going to be a war between cars on the Madras Motor Race Track at Irungattukottai from Friday, with 87 student teams from various engineering colleges in the country battling it out at a car build-off event.

Announced as the SUPRA SAEINDIA Student Formula, the event is a platform for students, primarily of mechanical engineering, to showcase their talents in conceptualising and constructing an F1 model single-seater race car and, finally, testing it on a race track in competition.

This third edition of the three-day event will also witness the participation of two all-women teams from Delhi and Pune.

“The student teams comprising of 25 members each have been selected based on the prototype they submitted and were given a full year to prepare and build a car for the final showdown in Chennai,” said S. Thirumalini, convener, SUPRA SAEINDIA, speaking to mediapersons on Thursday.

N. Balasubramanian, advisor of the firm, added that the competition makes students industry-ready as they work as a team and tackle complex engineering problems. “It is a real challenge for the students as some with engineering knowledge have to turn drivers for the machines they constructed and push the engines to the limit on the racetrack,” he said.

Automobile experts from the industry will judge the custom-built cars on parameters including vehicle endurance and manoeuvrability, acceleration and braking, and also fuel efficiency. The winning team stands a change to participate in a similar build-off in United States, organisers added.