Students enter student motor racing competition with their own electric motorcycle
Uppsala University now has its first student motor racing team – UPPström Racing! It includes students from no less than 11 different engineering and master’s programmes. In the course of three semesters they will build an electric motorcycle, and – as the first Swedish team – participate in the international Motostudent competition.
The teams are encouraged to play the role of a motor racing team. They are required to design, manufacture and evaluate a prototype racing motorcycle for the non-professional market. Aspects such as acceleration, braking, handling and sustainability will be evaluated during the Motostudent event which will take place in the Autumn of 2023 at the well-known racing circuit Motorland Aragón in Spain. Additional design aspects, such as cost, ergonomics, aesthetics and innovative design will also be assessed.
Juliane Wloch, one of originators of the project explains the background and intentions of the project:
Venkatesh, Fredrik Lundberg and Juliane Wloch.
How did you get the idea for such an ambitious project?
"It was in the course of an evening at the student nation that I and the other two originators of the project, Rohan Madappa Venkatesh and Fredrik Lundberg, got to know each other and started discussing motor racing. It turned out this was a shared passion. Two of us had previously competed in student motor racing in our respective home countries and found it odd that such a large and prominent university as Uppsala University did not have a team. By the end of the evening we had already agreed that we should set up a team and during the following months we managed to contact the right people to enable us to turn our dream into reality."
What are your goals and what suggests that you will do well in the competition?
"For Motostudent 22/23 we are aiming for a place among the top 5 overall and to win the rookie of the year prize as well as the innovation prize (which forms part of the theoretical section of the competition). Our long-term aim is for the team to continue in existence and to participate in other motor racing events in the future. Our strength lies in the diversity, experiences, passion and motivation of our team. And of course that we have Uppsala University behind us, with all relevant knowledge and experience for us to access and convert into a practical application."
What are your major challenges right now, at the start of the project?
"Right now it is important to build a strong brand, and establish good communication channels, sponsors and partners. We want to be seen and recognised in order to become a long-term project that Uppsala University can be proud of."
Much to win
Industrial Engineering and Management
Marcus Lindahl, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management, is the team’s Faculty Advisor and is able to direct the students to the right people within the university in terms of expertise and also help establish contacts with businesses.
What can be gained from our students entering this kind of competition?
"It is an exciting way of promoting Uppsala as a technological university with amazing opportunities for our students to engage in projects in technology and economics beyond their formal study programmes."
"Moreover, a competition for electric motorcycles is a fine combination of joyful university rivalry and at the same time a showcase for the electrical transformation. And for the students it is of course also an amazing opportunity to combine theoretical and practical technological knowledge with other skills within economics, organisation, and management. For students from different study programmes and of different national origins to be working together in a real-life project is clearly something we want to encourage."
On the starting blocks for the signal to get going
The construction work will probably take place at the Ångström Laboratory, but exactly where has not yet been decided. The team is now waiting for the starter kit from the competition organisers. This will consist of an electric motor, an insulation control unit, brake callipers and pumps, plus a set of slick tyres. Beyond that only their project and engineering skills, creativity and imagination set the limits for what they can achieve!
More about the project at Team Uppström Racing’s website and the Motostudent website.
Marie Chajara Svensson