Being indulged in a Formula Student racing team often makes you forget that you are in fact a student. Your daily routine gets filled with as much race car work you can fit in your schedule, whilst balancing university work. Wake up, race car work, school work, sleep, repeat; day in, day out; week by week; and all of a sudden, the exam period is starting. December has been marked by exam preparations. Our offices are not as full every day as they have been earlier in the semester, as people are strategically doing their preparations elsewhere to not get too tempted to do all the fun race car work instead. However, the organization has not gone into full hibernation. There are still tasks to be completed and deadlines to meet during this month. Besides preparing for our exams, we are also preparing for the upcoming production phase of the project year, which starts in January.

‍

This is the part of the project year where things start to physically take shape. From now on, people who have been stuck in front of their computer screens fighting against crashing software and kiosk snack cravings will be able to produce and start piecing together the car parts or systems they have designed. Holding a self-designed part or system, such as a printed circuit board, aerodynamic wing element or a part of the suspension, truly is a special feeling. Seeing the car come together in the workshop day-by-day, working together from sunrise to past sunset and until sunrise again; feeling frustration, relief, stress, excitement and most of all: team spirit, are all parts of the car-building-process that both challenge us and encourage us to keep going.

‍

‍

We kick off the semester by doing a two-week work session, called January Workshop. This period will be spent working to catch up on tasks that were not completed before Christmas, as well as getting ahead of other tasks. Anyone walking into the office and workshop will feel the air filled with excitement and eagerness to start in-house production and eventually assemble the parts.

‍

Simultaneously, we are preparing for the qualifiers of the Formula Student competitions in Europe. In order to qualify for a competition, you must take an engineering quiz. These quizzes typically include problem sets in physics and mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, understanding of the competition rules – for example understanding what system designs are allowed and not – and more. They are challenging and really put the team to the test. In order to succeed, working smoothly as a team is essential. Therefore, the time we are dedicating to getting familiar with the different quiz systems and typical problem sets, as well as utilizing aids effectively are crucial in making sure we get good quiz results.

‍

We are looking forward to what the Spring semester will bring and are excited to piece together the car. The countdown for the Unveiling of the car, in May, starts now!

‍