Klaus Scheuplein (FSG)
Klaus Scheuplein (FSG)
Every year sees University of Strathclyde Motorsport (USM) design, build, market and race a single-seat bike-engined racing car as part of the global Formula Student initiative, a series of international competitions focussed on developing engineering talent in a practical, competitive high-octane environment.
The USM team is made up of students from across the University's Engineering and Business faculties who devote their time and energy to ensuring USM continue to compete at a high level both on the racetrack and off.
Recently, the team has had success in the 2012 UK and Germany competitions. USM placed 20th overall out of 117 competitors at the Formula Student UK competition at Silverstone in July, the 3rd top British team, with results including 7th in Cost and Sustainability and 12th in Engineering Design. This was a fantastic result given the challenges faced by the team this year including a six week delay and enforced relocation due to the James Weir fire, and was bettered only by their performance at Formula Student Germany in August.
This year's event in Germany saw USM finish 24th of 77 combustion cars in one of the most competitive international fields ever for a Formula Student competition, featuring the majority of the world's top teams. The team also won the Cost Analysis event outright, a massive achievement given the standard of the competition.
Roy Yuile, USM Technical Director, said, “USM have been working on involving business students in the team for two years now, with 2012 seeing the introduction of a new Commercial Director role to our senior management structure. Strathclyde Business School students tend to come equipped with a great deal of knowledge and enthusiasm, and USM were keen to tap into this potential in order to help develop the team's commercial operations such as sponsorship, events management and business planning.
“Our USM13 Commercial Director Katrina Pye got involved as a result of this integration project and now forms an important part of the team, handling a wide variety of tasks and projects and bringing fresh perspective to a team drawn solely from the Engineering Faculty.”
Katrina, who is studying HR, Hospitality and Tourism Management, said, "I'm very proud to be part of such a successful formula student team. It brings together a variety of students with an even wider variety of skills and personalities! I've been involved in the team for the past two years and have had a great deal of support from older and inspiring members to help me settle in. Last year, I focused on gaining sponsorship for the team - a vital task as without this backing it would be impossible for the team to operate.
"This year I have a bigger role in the team, not only managing sponsorship but also marketing and events management for the team.
"We've found that the addition of business students brings a new dynamic to the team and we encourage anyone with an interest in motor sport, or who wants a real-life business experience, to come and meet with us to see what we're about."
To find out more about USM go to www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk/