A team of eighty students is building an electric race car at Ghent University that will participate in the Formula Student competitions from next year. In this, universities around the world are competing with self-made cars. A dream school for aspiring engineers and economists. But UGent Racing – that’s the name of the team – also has an ambitious goal: to climb into the top three in Europe in five years.
Ghent University has officially put its weight behind the student associations that began building in July 2021. The first prototype was presented to the press on Monday, but it can’t drive independently yet. The driver can reach speeds of about 30 km per hour by car, although in theory this could be much higher. Basically, students want to draw lessons from the first model.
“We learned a lot from this,” says Captain Jarn de Monck. He sees it as a much-needed addition to the university curriculum. This consists mainly of theory, with the exception of some practice sessions. But now we can work on a concrete project. We put theory into practice and see immediate results. The future of self-driving vehicles in particular motivates students and plans to allow their racing cars to drive autonomously ready.
“We believe that self-driving cars are part of the future,” De Munck explains. We can already see them appearing on the streets today, although they are not fully independent yet. We also think we would see much fewer accidents if all cars were self-driving. Because they will run faster than humans. That’s why we think it’s interesting to research this technology.
Young people say they are not looking for any prizes or cash prizes. “We do this mainly for the popularity and passion of the students,” says de Monck. Although young people do not lack Grinta. “The ambition is to become the top of the world.” But Ghent first has to compete against European teams from Dutch institutions from Eindhoven and Delft, among others. The University of Zurich, Switzerland, is also one of the best universities in the world.
In the next academic year, ten master’s theses will be conducted in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, where students will work full time on the car. Students come from the engineering disciplines CenEka (civil engineering, computer science, and electrical engineering) and PKarus (civil engineer, mechanical and electrical engineering).
It is divided into sub-teams focusing on traditional disciplines such as chassis, suspension, drivetrain and steering. But also innovative aspects such as effort and independence. Funding is provided by the Department of Business, in which economics students participate.
The prototype was put together for a dirty 30,000 euros. Light blue car with the attraction of Formula 1. Student associations have raised funds for a number of activities. But early driving experiences convinced sponsors such as Jaguar and Proximus to enter into partnerships. This is necessary, because the successor to the current race car will be more advanced and the team aims at a budget of around 150 thousand euros to take steps towards the European summit.
Ghent University has officially put its weight behind the student associations that began building in July 2021. The first prototype was presented to the press on Monday, but it can’t drive independently yet. The driver can reach speeds of about 30 km per hour by car, although in theory this could be much higher. Students mainly want to draw lessons from the first model, and “we learn a lot from it,” says Captain Jarn de Monck. He sees it as a much-needed addition to the university curriculum. This consists mainly of theory, with the exception of some practice sessions. But now we can work on a concrete project. We put theory into practice and see immediate results. The future of self-driving cars is particularly motivating students, and the scheme to allow their own racing cars to drive autonomously is ready. “We believe that self-driving cars are part of the future,” explains de Monck. We can already see them appearing on the streets today, although they are not fully independent yet. We also think we would see much fewer accidents if all cars were self-driving. Because they will run faster than humans. That’s why we think it’s interesting to research this technology. Young people say they don’t want any prizes or cash prizes. “We do this mainly for the popularity and passion of the students,” says de Monck. Although young people do not lack Grinta. “The ambition is to become the top of the world.” But Ghent first has to compete against European teams from Dutch institutions from Eindhoven and Delft, among others. The University of Zurich, Switzerland, is also one of the best universities in the world. In the next academic year, ten master’s theses will be conducted in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, where students will work full time on the car. Students come from the engineering disciplines CenEka (civil engineering, computer science, and electrical engineering) and PKarus (civil engineer, mechanical and electrical engineering). It is divided into sub-teams focusing on traditional disciplines such as chassis, suspension, drivetrain and steering. But also innovative aspects such as effort and independence. Funding is provided by the Department of Business, in which economics students participate. The prototype was put together for a dirty 30,000 euros. Light blue car with the attraction of Formula 1. Student associations have raised funds for a number of activities. But early driving experiences convinced sponsors such as Jaguar and Proximus to enter into partnerships. This is necessary, because the successor to the current race car will be more advanced and the team aims at a budget of around 150 thousand euros to take steps towards the European summit.
