New University of Southampton award for Formula One car designers of tomorrow
The University of Southampton is teaming up with engineering careers promoter Greenpower to launch a joint Aerodynamics Innovation Award for schoolchildren.
The new award, for the team with the most novel and effective aerodynamics on a car entered for the 2006 Greenpower Formula 24 electric car championship, is being launched at the Autosport International Show at NEC Birmingham this weekend. The prize includes testing the car in the University’s RJ Mitchell wind tunnel, as used by leading Formula One, Indy, Le Mans and Rally Car teams.
Greenpower is a non-profit making company dedicated to promoting engineering and technology as careers in both secondary and primary schools in the UK. The Greenpower Electric Car Races for Schools is the UK’s premier build and racing series for schoolchildren aged nine and over.
Dr Kenji Takeda, lecturer in Aeronautics in the University’s School of Engineering Sciences, said: "Supporting Greenpower is our way of inspiring youngsters about how engineering can launch them into top-flight motorsport careers, like so many before them."
Dr Takeda and the team from Southampton are providing technical advice for the Greenpower Electric Car Races for Schools in 2006. They will host workshops offering cutting-edge aerodynamics advice for youngsters visiting the Autosport International Show.
"Our courses are extremely relevant to the motorsport industry," added Dr Takeda. "Lectures from senior aerodynamicists and technical directors of leading Formula One teams are combined with hands-on experimental testing, advanced CFD courses, individual and group projects. Open-wheel racing car wind tunnel models built in-house and supplied by Formula One teams are used throughout the course."
The University recently launched the world’s only MSc course dedicated to Race Car Aerodynamics, inspired by its world-leading research into ground-effect aerodynamics.
Notable Southampton alumni include Adrian Newey (Technical Director) and Ben Agathangelou (Head of Aerodynamics) at Red Bull Racing.
Notes for editors
- The University of Southampton’s School of Engineering Sciences offers expertise in engineering disciplines that underpin every aspect of 21st century life. Evolving from its traditional engineering roots, the School continues to expand into new, exciting research areas. From orthopaedic implant modelling and modern fuel cell technologies, to enhancing satellite broadcast technology and improving the aerodynamics of Formula One racing cars and hydrodynamics of America's Cup yachts, the School is always at the leading edge of engineering research. www.SouthamptonF1.com
- The University of Southampton is one of the UK’s top 10 research universities, with a global reputation for excellence in both teaching and research. The University is recognised internationally for its leading-edge research in engineering, science, computer science and medicine, and for its strong enterprise agenda. It is home to world-leading research centres, including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research; the Optoelectronics Research Centre; the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre; the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease; the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton; and the Textile Conservation Centre.
- Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham, 12-15 January 2006, features a line up of world-class drivers and celebrities on hand to meet their British fans and world-class manufacturers lining up to launch new cars and products never seen before in the UK. The University of Southampton is in Hall 6, stand CC651 at the Autosport International Show, in the Careers in Motorsport area. The Greenpower car from Sandbach School in Cheshire will be exhibited on the University of Southampton stand at the show.
- Greenpower Electric Car Races for Schools is the UK’s premier build and racing series for schoolchildren aged nine and up. The aim of Greenpower is to influence youngsters to consider engineering and technology fields for their careers and to endeavour to fill in some of the huge void that currently exists in the public perception of engineering and its place in society today. Through the adherence to electricity as the means of propulsion, Greenpower is dedicated to showing how relevant this means of propulsion is to our future lives. See www.greenpower.co.uk