ACBT University partnered with ECU motorsport team, the top 2 in Australia
View(s):ECU’s motorsport team has finished second in the Formula SAE-A event in Werribee, Victoria, its best result to date.
The team has previously finished third in 2011, fifth in 2010 and sixth in 2009. In the 2012 competition, the team finished first in the acceleration and endurance tests, and second in the autocross and skidpan tests. ECU was the highest placed team from Western Australia, and is now ranked 25th in the world out of 510 international universities.
The FSA-E competition is held annually and attracts teams from around Australia, New Zealand and Asia. The open-wheel cars are constructed by the students and are judged against a variety of categories, including cost, design, performance and economy.
ECU Motosports Coordinator Dr Kevin Hayward said that ECU is the only university to run a tertiary-level motorsports course in Australia.
“The success in FSAE is just one of the positive outcomes of the course. We now have graduates of the motorsports program in various forms of professional motorsport, including a graduate running their own successful motorsports based company in Western Australia,” Dr Hayward said.
Bryce Tacken, the team leader for the 2012 competition and a mechanical engineering student, said a mix of theoretical and practical learning had given ECU an edge.
“Studying engineering at ECU is very rewarding. We have a lot of practical labs and workshop sessions that help us understand how the theory is supposed to be applied,” Bryce said.
ECU’s team spent the entire academic year working on the car. They design, fabricate and test most of the parts on the car.
Sean Supierz, the engine team leader, said that the team focuses on making sure the car is reliable.
“We work very hard to make sure that any problems in the car are dealt with long before competition. It has meant that we are the only team to finish all endurance runs in the last three years in the Australian competition,” Sean said.
“Once the car is reliable and safe, we can work on improving the speed. This has been our approach since we started and has been a big part of our success.”
The students dedicated this year’s car to Professor Tony Watson, the outgoing Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) and Executive Dean Faculty of Computing, Health and Science.
Professor Watson was instrumental in establishing the motorsport course and has been an avid follower of the team.
According to Dr Hayward,the students have valued his support over the years and were very happy that he attended the FSA-E competition to see the car compete.
The motorsport team welcomes all ECU students to help in the program each year, from engineering and mechanical engineering courses, as well as those studying marketing, public relations to design and business courses.
For more information on studying motorsports at ECU visit the ECU website.
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