Media
UWAM Express
Issue #42 July 2008
From the Project Manager
July marks the start of an exam-free break that gives the team an opportunity to make big movements on this year’s car. Before exams had ended, the chassis was progressing well and the process of manufacture was truly underway. As soon as exams ended, we opened up the taps and charged ahead. But just because the car’s construction kept the team busy, it certainly didn’t slow UWAM’s Community Outreach Program. Along with a wide range of school visits to the lab, UWA Motorsport also made a trip down to Albany to visit the local UWA Campus and speak to students from high-schools in rural areas in and around Albany.
We’re also giving the older cars a good workout with a consistent effort in driver training being made. The emphasis on ensuring that drivers get adequate seat time before competition is high and UWAM2002 is given a chance to stretch its legs almost every week.
Yet the most exciting news is the release of the launch date for the 2008 UWAM race-car! Please see below for details of this and keep an eye out for further details.
It certainly has been an entertaining month with a lot of work, travelling and organising but I have enjoyed every minute of it. I believe that from here on in, the very best can be expected from the team and although these are testing times, I know all the guys and girls will be doing their best. Keep an eye out for the next newsletter as the coming months are sure to be interesting!
Progress Report
Vehicle dynamics – Vehicle Dynamics, along with all of the other technical sub-sections of the team has undertaken a strict testing regime for its components that will be used for the 2008 race-car. The team has also been busy establishing kinematics, suspension hard-points for the chassis and further analysing data that was acquired in Detroit in May. This data will be used to optimise the suspension package and will allow us to build upon the previous car’s setup.
Chassis – The work being done on the chassis takes the lime-light at this point in the car’s development as it is very labour intensive and requires a lot of person power to complete within a fixed period of time. From the construction of the moulds to releasing a carbon fibre monocoque there are a large number of steps, all of which we do ourselves ensuring we have a very good understanding of how this chassis is constructed along with improving our composites and materials knowledge. At the time of publication, the moulds were being prepared for lay-up which involves cleaning, trimming, fixing voids and finally polishing. As soon as that is complete we will be laying up the chassis monocoque and releasing it from the moulds followed by the locating and drilling of insert holes after which preparations for painting will commence.
Powertrain - Powertrain have also being going full steam ahead in terms of design, testing and construction. The manufacture of various parts is well underway for team Powertrain with much of the raw material provided to us by our generous material sponsors Robert Cameron and Co, Prime Steels, Dotmar and Score Pacific now being used. The intake, lubrication system, cooling, differential and exhaust amongst other components are all in the build phase.
Kalamunda Highschool visit
As part of a tour of the engineering faculty, the students from Kalamunda SHS visited the UWA Motorsport Lab to see where some of the best FSAE cars in the world are built. The students expressed a lot of interest and had plenty of questions for the team, regarding the driving program, the construction of the cars and sponsor relations. It was a pleasure showing the students around and we always encourage such tours of our lab for anyone interested in the field of mechanical, electrical and mechatronics, or just university in general.
Campus Challenge
Every year, the university invites students from high-schools around Perth and rural areas to join in activities that are held on campus over a week. While staying at the colleges across the road from the university, students are taken to a range of faculties and shown what university life is all about, while also seeing what is available to study. As per usual, UWA Motorsport was asked to hold a couple of tours as part of the program being run by UWA. We were more than happy to show the students what it is to be a part of Motorsport and how it can help them in their future careers. After a quick tour we explained the ins and outs of the competition and how we as a team organise ourselves to best tackle this challenge of Formula SAE. And no tour of UWA Motorsport is complete without the customary sitting in the cars which for many is a once in a life-time opportunity! We hope the students gained some inspiration to continue their education past high-school.
UWAM on front cover of Engineering Brochure
Thanks to the high acclaim that UWA Motorsport has received due to the win in Detroit, it is no wonder that the team was asked to be present at the photo shoot for the annual UWA Engineering handbook. With a professional photographer and a polished yellow race-car, there was bound to be some stunning pictures, especially in front of the picturesque Winthrop Hall. The great-looking 2006 race-car, which won a plethora of awards in its day and is widely known as an excellent all-round car made for a perfect centrepiece as the photographer snapped away. Suffice to say, the pictures turned out very well and UWA Motorsport is now on the front cover of UWA Engineering!
Supertrucks at Barbagallo
Thanks to the generosity of the WA Sporting Car Club, UWA Motorsport was once again present at the Supertrucks event held at Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo. This is a race-meet where the main event is a series of truck races, with races of different formulas being run in between. The 2006 UWAM race-car certainly looked petite up against the monsters racing around the short-circuit at break-neck speeds. It was definitely interesting to see the trucks which are typically seen towing heavy loads hitting unbelievable speeds then jumping on the brakes with steam bellowing out of the wheel wells from the water cooled brakes! UWA Motorsport provided an avenue of precision and finesse amongst the Supertrucks and V8’s, with many spectators stopping and asking us what the team does and how the car works. As usual, we had a blast chatting to the spectators at the race-meet and look forward to future events held by the WA Sporting Car Club.
UWAM2007 Returns to us!
The excitement around the returning championship-winning car is mounting as its arrival at the lab looms. The crate which is what the team uses to transport vehicles interstate and internationally has landed in Fremantle Harbour on Monday, awaiting unloading. Many of the 2007 team, especially those who travelled to the US in May, look forward to seeing the Championship winning car. Yet it is not only the team that wants to see the car back safe and sound, with many alumni, staff and sponsors eager to have a look as well. The crate is expected to be returned to the UWAM laboratory early next week after customs and quarantine clearance is given.
UWAM welcomes Score Pacific
We would like to welcome Score Pacific as an official sponsor of UWA Motorsport who kindly provides us with high-grade material for the construction of our race-cars. Score Pacific supply a worldwide range of valve, actuator and gas turbine services, with Headquarters in Perth, Western Australia and branches in Balcatta, Darwin and Karratha NT. Score’s technical support allow the company to offer its clients a high level of specialised service.
We are very happy to have Score Pacific on board and look forward to a prosperous partnership for years to come. Thanks Score Pacific!!
Contact Score Pacific:
http://www.scorepacific.com.au/
UWAM goes south to Albany
It is well known that one of UWA Motorsport’s objectives, apart from developing race-cars, is the promotion of science and engineering to high-school students. We also endorse the general concept of university and its many benefits, showing that UWA’s Motorsport program is just an example of what is on offer after high-school studies. Yet we always like to push the boundaries with everything that we do and this year, the 2008 team travelled as far south as Albany to spread the university bug. With the 2006 car on the trailer and our Technical Director’s four-wheel-drive, we took a road-trip to the town of Albany, approximately 500km south of Perth.
We were stationed in the beautiful and picturesque Albany UWA Campus which offers local students the chance to study a number of courses offered by the University of Western Australia. Students from Albany Senior High school, North Albany SHS and Great Southern Grammar came along to see the displays and presentation that the Marketing Department of UWA Engineering Computing and Maths had organised. The Computer Science guys also came along to show off the other fantastic things on offer at UWA, with us holding up the flag for Mechanical Engineering.
We believe that students from rural communities should have as much access to higher education as students in Perth. It is clear, just from speaking to students who are currently studying at UWA, that many have come from the country and are now successfully completing their degrees.
Little Journalists from China
UWA Motorsport sometimes receives interesting requests for tours and presentations but a recent request to present to a group of 11 year-old students from Nanjing Langya Primary school from the People’s republic of China topped it off! Thanks to a translator who conveyed what was being said to the young students, they learned about the motorsport program, the team and basics about the car. The tour of the motorsport lab was part of a larger program called “Hand in hand, Australia in my vision”. The students are acting as ‘little journalists’ who are sightseeing in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast before arriving in Perth for a 5 day visit. Apart from visiting UWA, they will stop by the University of Sydney and Griffith University. While in Perth, they will also meet the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth, visit Channel 7 and Caversham Wildlife Park.
After the run-down of the program, the students all had a seat in the 2005 and 2006 cars with plenty of pictures being taken to take back to China and report on their travels. No doubt the high-light will be sitting in some of the world’s best Formula SAE cars!!
Launch 2008 - Date set!
It is official, the launch of the much-anticipated 2008 UWA Motorsport race car has been set! The big date is Tuesday 30th September.
As per usual UWA Motorsport tradition we will be holding an event to celebrate the hard word that has gone into designing and building the car. We would also like to invite all of our valued sponsors and supporters who have helped us along the way. Alumni and the usual plethora of followers are also welcome to witness the first public viewing of the newest UWAM car,
Please keep an eye out for further information regarding Launch 2008!
UWAM2002 - Six years and going strong!
As part of an on-going driver training program, the second UWAM race-car ever built is being kept busy developing the skills of our drivers. With its simple design and ease-of-maintenance, it is a fantastic car to be using for regular driving. This car really is a testament to the engineering skills of the guys who built it including Steven Walters, Joe Totten, James White, Mladen Glavovic, Francesco Congiu, Enrico Palermo, Vassili Kitsios, Christian de Silva, David Dovan, Kev Hayward, Terry Karunaratna, Kamil Adeley, Nick Winzer, Matt Marai, Paul Kalisch and Phillip McArdell.
The car's steel space-frame, cable clutch actuation and open layout makes it one of the simpler UWAM cars but it reigns supreme in it's reliability and it definately produced the goods with its second place finish at the 2002 Australasian Competition in only the team’s second competition, only losing out to the eventual world champions!
Spotlight on Sponsors
Worley Parsons is a leading provider of professional services to the energy, resources and complex processes industries. Worley Parsons is a dynamic company whose success has resulted from outstanding project delivery for customers around the world. In doing so they work through all five phases of an asset’s lifecycle, customizing their services for each sector.
[Quote from Worley Parson’s website].
Worley Parsons has been a valued Gold Level sponsor of the UWA Motorsport team for a number of years, providing us with unwavering support in our continuing efforts of producing the best Formula SAE cars in the world. Without the solid partnerships that UWA Motorsport has created with leading industry partners such as Worley Parsons, our levels of success would not be reached.
Thank You Worley Parsons!!!
Contact Worley Parsons:
Level 7
250 St Georges Terrace
Perth WA 6009
Dotmar EPP Pty Ltd is a privately owned Australian business focused on the application of thermoplastic materials in engineering. Established in 1967 and with five state branches, Dotmar is now the leading supplier of engineering thermoplastics in stock shapes and components in Australia. Dotmar, through its strong network of International and Australian Engineering Partners, stays at the "leading edge" of product and technology in its field.
Dotmar has been a long-time supporter of UWA Motorsport in providing us with the highest grade plastics for various applications. Their enthusiasm and support of the team makes Dotmar an extremely valued sponsor and we look forward to a prosperous future with them.
We would also like to send our sincere thanks to Glenn Hansen, Sales Engineer for Dotmar, who is leaving Dotmar in the coming month and was our contact for many years now. Glen's enthusiasm and non-stop support was truly inspiring and we wish him all the best in the future.
Thank You Dotmar!!!
Contact Dotmar:
16 Bell Street
Canning Vale WA 6155
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