What do people even do in Formula Trinity? Is it the sort of stuff you’d enjoy in a project? Featured is some of our members own descriptions of what tasks they’re dealing with as we go into term, and if you feel this is something you’d want to get involved in, or attend our two (that’s right, two!) events next week; a fun quiz, where you can win two vouchers for free entry to Kylemore Karting, and an informational talk about what we do and how you can help, then be sure to come along. We’ll see you then!
A lot and not a lot at the same time. I currently head the experimental department of Aerodynamics, developing several parts for the car and doing flow simulations. But I also offer advice and experience to other aspects of the car, especially simulation and analysis. I would love to work on more things on the car, but things are definitely building up at the end of my degree, like my job, projects and other things, that keep me from doing more.
Due to the current circumstances around the world there isn’t much we can do here in the electronics department because most of our work is based in a lab. At the moment, we are mostly focusing on organising ourselves for the coming year and making out a plan to be ready for the 2020/21 competition in Silverstone next summer. We are also doing a lot of work with powertrain for the ECU and necessary engine testing which we have been able to do with permission from the university over the summer, with limited access of course.
I am currently developing the suspension geometry for the team, setting parameters such as track width, wheelbase and other dimensions so we can start to get a good idea of how the car will look and behave on track. This will give other departments a design envelope to work within, and allow us to start fabricating parts. I am also looking at the work-breakdown-structure of the department, so I can assign tasks to the suspension team and set deadlines.
At the moment I’m working on our exciting new project work-breakdown-structure management plan, which is essential to try and set up a schedule for this years car in respect of our responsibilities within the team. This is basically just a chronological order of each task so we know what needs to get done before what. It’s not very interesting but it will help each department to keep focus on the task in hand and ensure we can identify any structural problems within the team.
As I type this, I’m trying to get all the recruitment events organised for January the fifth and sixth, a quiz and a presentation talking about what Formula Trinity is and going through all the departments. I’ve designed the graphics for the promotion and made sure they satisfy our sponsorship obligations. This requires coordinating with EngSoc, as well as Kylemore Karting and other sponsors, to ensure that they’re events that get a lot of attendance and that those attendants enjoy their experience. Maybe you could go and find out if I’ve done a good job!
At the moment I am working with the Business & Operations department to prepare for recruitment and our collaborations with the Engineering Society. As well as that I am working with the Committee to ensure our work-breakdown-structure is ready and that sufficient planning has been done ahead of the start of the year. This is my last year working on the project I started years ago, and as we go to tackle Class 1 for the first time, a greater challenge than we have faced before, I am ensuring everything goes smoothly.
Right now, we’re approaching the stage at which designs will start to fit together between departments, and the necessary work of meshing designs together and compromising to resolve conflicts begins. I’m focused on making sure that everyone is on the same page so we don’t run into any issues in the fabrication stage when we can’t go back. Obviously this is all being done remotely, which is not ideal, but we are still making good progress and we’re on the right track to have a car finished well ahead of the 2021 FSUK competition.
Presently, I’m trying to figure out what I can have my team do while in quarantine. In electronics we spend long hours in the labs: testing circuits, writing code, and reading documentation. At the moment it’s impossible for us to be together in the lab. So we’re spending most of our time researching, so as to ensure that when we gain access to the lab we will know exactly what to work on.
