Racing Ahead: Unleashing Student Opportunities in Motorsport

It’s an exciting end to 2023 for the Adelaide University Motorsport Team (AUMT). Not only did they have a special launch event at the Sporting Car Club of SA in Unley on the 28th of November, but they are also heading off interstate very soon to participate in the Formula SAE- Australasia 2023 (FSAE-A) event.

AUMT Team Leader, Jake Herrmann, who joined the club in 2021, said the launch event was a great night and an excellent opportunity to get their sponsors together as well as launch their new electric vehicle and demonstrate the upgrades they’d been working on.

This year’s FSAE-A event will be held from 14 - 17 December 2023 at Calder Park Raceway, in Calder Park, Victoria.

This competition will see student built 'Internal Combustion and Electric Vehicles' put to the test in a series of dynamic static and endurance events and will also feature an awards presentation and careers expo. The event is expected to have an EV-dominated field of racers set to punish their tyres in an action-packed weekend.

Jake said the team was excited about heading over to Victoria for the event, alongside Universities from around Australia as well as a few from NZ and Japan - it will be a lot of fun and a great networking opportunity.

The AU Motorsport Team was founded in 2001 to compete in the annual Formula-SAE Australasia competition. The team is completely student run and consists of students from every year level and multiple disciplines including Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Business and more.

AUMT originally consisted of students doing their final year engineering project. In 2010 the team expanded to become an extracurricular project to include engineering students from all levels of study at The University of Adelaide. In 2015 the team joined the AU Sports Association to align with the standard naming practice of the University’s Sports Association.

From 2018, the team has switched to electric power for its vehicle, competing in the electric vehicle category of FSAE-A. Since the switch to electric power, the team has made large steady improvements year on year climbing the world rankings.

Jake said being part of AUMT gave him the opportunity to work on the things they learnt from being in the classroom at university as well as the social aspect of the club.

“Every year we get to design a new formula race car and as an engineering student there are a lot of things to do where we can apply the theory learnt in class and for the business students it’s a great chance for them to use their skills to reach out and gain sponsors and funding,” Jake explained.

“The industry also really appreciates it when you have the knowledge or skills that you gain from being in the AUMT.

“We are one of many global Universities and we are working towards global competition and over the course of 2023 the team has redesigned a new accumulator now capable of storing 600v (vaults) to enhance the electrical capabilities of the vehicle.

“The friendships are definitely the key aspect and what I enjoy about it the most is that something you have full reign to design whatever you want and implement it and prove that it is a good design.

“It is also a chance to apply all engineering skills and work with a team of people you want to work with and competing against other teams internationally.”

To find out more about AU Motorsport Team visit their website.