Imagine for a second that you are a student in really busy college course with hardly any free time. Then one day, a mate of yours asks if you want to start a long-term project with no budget, no financial incentive and a very high chance of failure. Only an idiot would agree to that.
My name is David Simonian and this will be my fourth year in Formula Trinity. I’m the current Head of Engineering.
This all started in the summer of 2017 when Arnie proposed the idea of setting up a Formula Student team. At first, I didn’t really think much of it. I was going into my second year of college at the time, and I remember being a little disappointed that I didn’t really engage too much with societies. But, with a gentle push from my friend Daniel, I thought, “Sure look it, why not”.
We had our first team meeting in the TBSI building and Prof. Simms was there and that’s when it hit me that, “oh, this is serious…”. Soon after the team departments were established, and I was on the Drivetrain department with Daniel. I had no idea what a drivetrain was or how it worked, and I had no idea where to even begin. Thankfully though, the Chief Engineer at the time, Varun Soni an exchange student from Thapar University, had worked on drivetrain in India. Varun was a final year student, so he was not going to be there next year, so he gave us as much information and resources as he could so we could carry on the team when he left. I’m a second-year engineer at this point, I’m as useful as a chocolate teapot. I couldn’t make sense of any of it. However, over time things just click and I had a clearer idea of how we would go about getting the power from the engine to the wheels. Eventually, we started designing parts of our own and running simulations on them, which I had never done before.
Building a functional car still seemed impossible but slowly the team was making progress and the idea became slightly more believable.
We still didn’t have any money though. We knew getting funding would be the hardest part. Why would anyone give money to a team of unqualified students with nothing to show? But we managed to put together enough to send a small group of us to Silverstone for FSUK, as a Class 2 team (so just theoretical designs).
FSUK18 was one of the best experiences of my life but also a major wake up call. We showed up to our tent that was slanted on hill with almost no supplies. Other teams had massive DJ sets and fancy BBQ grills and we sat on the ground because we did not even bring chairs. The Maltese team felt so bad for us they donated some of their pasta one of the nights. But it was so much fun talking to people from around the world and seeing their amazing cars. The Scots would play the bagpipes in the morning and the Americans had dozens of tiny US flags around their tent. We were the only Irish team that year, but everyone was so nice to us.
The competition Judges now, well they were a different story. They grilled us on our designs. They asked us questions that we at the time simply didn’t know the answers to. We felt out of our depth and disheartened. But they were not being harsh out of spite, they told that we had done very well for a brand-new team and that they just wanted to highlight the mistakes we were making to help us improve. Whereas most people would have just quit there and then, we had a different thought. We were going to come back there next year, and we were going to show them who we really were.
With Varun gone, I took a larger role in Drivetrain. We started thinking for ourselves instead of relying on what other teams were doing. We made a lot of design changes, with a major change being switching from a differential to a spool design. Without getting too technical, its often looked down upon because its often poorly implemented and justified. However, it was a risk we were willing to take, and I began work designing it.
Every last detail was considered for the spool, all the way back to what shape do the raw materials come in. The goal was to have the most efficient use of material possible to keep cost, weight and labour minimal. The team made so many changes, and everybody was determined to get this right. By the end of it, I was so impressed by the work that team put in. We were still a class 2 team, but now there was no doubt in my mind. We could build a car.
FSUK19. The big boi. As before we in tents at Silverstone, but this time we were prepared. Not only did we have chairs, we had tables! We had electric stoves, a boombox, you name it. There was also 17 of us at competition that year.
I remember the first day of judging I was so nervous. I thought that they would hate the drivetrain, especially the spool and all the work that I put into it. I remember my voice getting hoarse, which sounds silly but when you put all your effort into something, it becomes a part of you, and it feels like they’re judging you rather than your work. Of course, that’s not true though. The judges were very nice to us, albeit still a bit harsh with the questions. However, this time, we had an answer for everything.
After all was said and done, the judges came back with some feedback. They were hugely impressed at the quality of our work, especially for a team that’s only been in the competition once before. The judges specifically highlighted how impressed they were with all the thought that went into Drivetrain. I had such a warm, fuzzy feeling when I heard that, which was either pure joy or indigestion from Brendan’s chilli. Either way, you can only imagine what it did for my ego. We were hoping for top ten but after seeing all the other teams’ brilliant work, we got worried. You would look at something and go, “Damn, why didn’t I think of that”. I also helped out with the Business Presentation with Arnie and Forrest, and then all we could do was sit and wait.
2nd Place. Wait what? Did I read that right? YUPPA!! It was incredible! To think that a team with virtually no funding had beaten some of the world’s top universities. It was a crazy experience seeing our team that high on the scoreboard.
After that, we had one goal. Build the car. I was elected Head of Engineering for 2020 and I was determined to get the job done. Things were looking great! The Provost and the University were now fully supportive, and the sponsorships were going well. The designs of the 2020 car were coming together, but then disaster. COVID-19, slammed the breaks on all our progress. I had really hoped that this would be the year that it would all come together.
But that won’t stop us. Formula Trinity is made of the brightest, most hard-working people I have ever met, far smarter than I could ever hope to be. We’re a stubborn bunch that got this far, there’s no turning back now.
FSUK21. We’ll be there with a shiny new car.