Young engineers growing up
11 aprile 2011 posted by: Federico Fattori
We’ve got a good idea of how some of the world’s great drivers get to where they are, but the engineers who build their cars? How do they start out on their careers?
Six years ago a group of students from Politecnico di Torino, all of them motorsports fanatics, got together and formed Squadra Corse, a sort of prototype of a little Formula 1 team.
But the lads didn’t limit themselves to just designing a single-seater, they found the funds to build it, as well as the premises to make it in, the drivers to test it and the means for entering it in Formula SAE races all over the world. Every year they bring home great results, improving both the car and themselves with every experience. They’ve achieved some really significant results, managing to win a lot of prizes even with the hybrid version of their car (electric/internal combustion engine).
These championships are real and proper testing grounds for the teams of tomorrow: the cars compete in terms of performance, solutions and innovations, but the teams also compete at so-called “static events”, during which each design is assessed by judges who certify its technical and economic feasibility. This brings the students into touch with all the kinds of problems they’ll have to face in the real world once they graduate.
The students involved in Squadra Corse are constantly in search of funds and collaborators for organizing events and communications. Some of them have already entered the magic world of motorsports, which is hardly surprising given the results they’ve achieved and the levels they compete at.
Today they inaugurated their seventh prototype, the SCX2, in the presence of all the sponsors who’ve believed in their dream and supported them. We were there too.
This year their drivers will be racing once again with Sparco equipment. We just couldn’t let them do it without adequate protection. We want them to be all in one piece when they finally reach Formula 1!
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