Talented Moratuwa University students need support for international competition
View(s):A group of engineering students at University of Moratuwa is on the verge of making Sri Lanka proud by being the first participants at a Formula Student Electric event and is seeking funds to make it a reality.
Formula Student competitions are one of the most popular competitions among undergraduates all over the world. These competitions are held in countries all over the world while the major events taking place in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Austria and Brazil. The two major organisers of these events are Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the participating universities are supposed to design and develop a single seat formula type race car to compete, according to a media release from Moratuwa University.
The university team has been sponsored by several organisations so far. Brandix through financial assistance, MATLAB, a software company, through free license for design software and ITN as the official media sponsor. The team welcomes any industry or personal partners to help highlight Sri Lanka in an international arena and to bring out the engineering excellence of the country.
Formula Student Germany is a prestigious international arena which began in 1981. For 2017 competition, more than 300 teams had registered with 102 teams for the Electric Vehicle category. The team from University of Moratuwa named FalconE Racing, named after the fastest animal, is building a car for the Electric Car category to compete at the Formula Student Germany in August 2018. Combustion engine event and Driverless cars are the other two categories to compete.
So far in the competition, Team FalconE Racing has made a significant achievement by being placed second out of 102 teams in the Electric car category in the online quiz for selecting 40 teams to be participating at the event in Germany. The team became second only to Dresdone University, Germany.
Team FalconE Racing consists of 20 students from 4th and 3rd year batches with 19 students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and one from the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. Team Leader of this project is Niranga Mayuran while Shehara Perera plays the role of the Chief Technical Officer. The guidance and advisory role of the academic staff members of the Mechanical Engineering Department is prominent in making this project a success. Prof. Ruwan Gopura as the Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sasiranga De Silva as the Faculty Advisor of the project, Dr. Thilina Lalitharathna as the Electrical System Advisor and Dr. J.R. Gamage as the Project Coordinator supervise through all the successful achievements.