Formula SAE-A Competition:
Formula SAE Australasia is a 4 day international student engineering competition held in Australia. It is centered on the design, construction and racing of an internal combustion or electric race car up to 710cc/80kW. The competition presents students with the opportunity to develop their skills in design, management, manufacturing, communication, research and business operations in a real world environment. Formula students are highly sought after across the engineering industry. The event was first held in 2000 at the You Yangs Proving Ground in Victoria, Australia. Since then the competition has grown into large international event with over 30 participating teams in 2019.
The teams compete in a variety of events including static events in which the teams are judged on their design, as well as dynamic events such as a drag race, skid pad and a 22 km long endurance race.
WESMO Involvement:
The University of Waikato Formula SAE Team (WESMO) was formed in 2006 and is comprised mainly of Waikato University Engineering students who work together to design and build a Formula SAE car. The students manage everything from scheduling, budgeting and fund raising to cost-control, design, sourcing equipment, materials and components, manufacturing and testing. The team has had varied results with the best result in 2013, coming in 6th overall. In 2018 the WESMO team still managed an impressive 12th place after a part failure during the endurance event.
The 2022 team is looking forward to this year's competition (8 - 11 December, Winton Motor Raceway, Victoria, Australia). We aim to build a large community and get other students from around the university to contribute to the team. We are focusing on establishing the future of WESMO and getting younger students involved in the overall experience. In terms of the car, we are aiming to improve on drivability and weight reduction while maintain our reliability.