UWA Motorsport 2009: September 2008

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UWAM Express

Issue #44 September 2008

From the Project Manager

For the first time ever UWA Motorsport has launched a car in September! The team has stuck to its guns and achieved its goal of hosting a launch almost 2 months earlier than usual. In its attempt to maximise the car’s tuning time, we have pushed this event forward to September when it would usually occur in November which has certainly proved to be a challenge but one that was achievable. Thanks to a lot of hard work and persistence, the launch went well with a lot of great feedback from the sponsors who attended. We would like to say a thankyou to all the attendees at the launch and we were very happy to share the experience with all.

Launch wasn’t the only thing on our minds in September with a number of items running in parallel including the Formula 1 in schools finals, a news story on the team and also the continuation of driver training.
With the FSAE Australasia competition looming in late November, the clock is ticking to have the car and the team up to a competitive level. We will be fighting to defend our title with the goal of building a fast yet reliable car. I hope you enjoy this issue of UWAM Express and make sure you keep an eye out for further updates and the newsletter's next issue.

2008 Vehicle Launch

It seems that as soon as the Celebration Night was over in late August, the Launch for the next car was on. With two major events in close succession, we hope that our guests didn’t get confused with which car we are gathering for!

With all of the past UWAM cars scattered around the foyer of the Molecular and Chemical Sciences Building, nobody could mistake which student organisation was taking over the venue for the night. The distinctive yellow cars littered the ground floor while guests spilled into the venue to get up close and personal with the machines that took the team to the heights it has seen. Bringing the past and present cars together gives people a real appreciation of the huge developments that have occurred within the cars in the relatively short time that the team has been operating. And this really comes to light when the 2008 car was revealed…

After the customary speeches, the Vice Chancellor Professor Alan Robson did the honours of removing the sheet that covered the 2008 race car and reveal it to the public. Everybody came in to take a closer look at the newest yellow machine and with good reason. The car looks different to previous cars, not only from natural progression of the car's appearance, but also for technical reasons. The new, roomier styling is to accommodate for 2009 FSAE rules (this car will have to abide by 2009 rules in next year’s international competition). The colour of the car has returned to the traditional yet slightly more modern ‘UWAM Yellow’ while donning a bare carbon paint scheme on the leg-bay, a first for our cars.

The following stage in the car's life is to prepare it for competition in Werribee, Victoria, on the 27th – 30th November. A testing and tuning regime has been implemented and we intend to take full advantage of the early launch for this year. Updates on the car’s progress will be available in following newsletters.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors, Professor Alan Robson, University executives and staff, supporters and family for taking the time to share in the experience of launching our car. Without all of these people and their generous help, the team would not exist.

GWN story on UWAM's country team members

As some of our regional followers may have spotted, UWA Motorsport has graced the television screens once again! Golden West News (GWN) offered to do a news story on the UWA Motorsport program, in particular the involvement of two students who had moved from rural areas of WA to study at our university. Wes Jilley and Adam Mason had both moved from Bunbury, 180km south of Perth, after having completed Highschool and looking to study engineering at UWA. Wes and Adam joined the motorsport program towards the end of their degree and played an integral role in the success of the 2007 car. Wes acted as the Technical Director in 2007 while Adam was a member of the Powertrain team, taking charge of the oil system of the car.
We had arranged to meet the GWN news crew at Tiger Kart, where we intended to show the camera what these cars can do. Although the weather was not on our side, we set up a tight and winding track and let our number one driver, Pete Marsh, demonstrate what the World Championship car can do.

Thankyou GWN for your coverage and we hope everybody enjoyed the story.

Welcome Drilling and Grouting Services (DGS)

Earlier in September, Drilling and Grouting Services (DGS) in Welshpool agreed to help the team out with workshop time. Being keen motorsport supporters themselves, DGS were more than happy to come aboard.

DGS supply drilling services and all types of cement and chemical grouting to the mining, civil construction and offshore industries. DGS was established in 1990 and is one of the fastest growing drilling companies with operations throughout Australia and South-East Asia.

We'd like to thank DGS for their generous support and hope we can continue the partnership well into the future. Thanks Drilling and Grouting Services!!

Driver training preparations for FSAE Australasia

UWA Motorsport’s driver training program has been running throughout the year with the aim not only to give our current drivers seat time, but also to train new drivers in the art of competitive racing. Our usual training venue is Tiger Kart, who kindly let us use their facility for these purposes.
Using the ever-reliable 2002 car, the new drivers get a taste of what our cars can do after having graduated from the go-karts at Indoor Kart Hire. After this, the drivers move onto the faster cars such as 2005 or even the world championship 2007 car. This car, although very quick, is a great training tool for those who will be driving the latest 2008 car. It is common knowledge, especially in Formula SAE, that seat-time is a critical aspect of the team's success in the dynamic events such as acceleration, skid-pad, autocross and endurance. This lends itself to all areas of motorsport and shows the importance of a strict training regime.
See the videos available at the website of 2002 doing what it does best!

F1 in Schools Innovation Design Challenge Finals!

Engineering scrutineering, verbal presentation, marketing and racing. No this is not the FSAE competition but rather the Formula 1 in schools Innovation Design Challenge finals! On the 19th September seven UWA Motorsport guys headed over to the historical railway museum in Midland where the event was being held to act as judges for the finals. Having been involved with the program and event since its beginnings a few years ago, we were excited to see how the cars and the teams have developed.
Once again we were all amazed at how the teams had progressed throughout the year with their car designs, presentation skills and general engineering knowledge. One team had implemented a fan design on the car’s wheels thereby aiding in its aerodynamics! The competition is a fantastic introduction into engineering, science, commerce and marketing and definately prepares the students for the professional world they are about to step into once having graduated from high-school.
We would like to congratulate the following teams in winning their respective categories, who then receive an all expenses paid trip to Canberra to compete in the national competition.

Apprentice class winner – Balga Senior Highschool

Pro-junior Class winner – Christchurch Senior Highschool

Pro-senior Class winner – Wesley College

We would like to congratulate all the students for their efforts and especially the winners for a sterling effort. We hope UWA Motorsport’s involvement urges them to join the team once they begin their studies at our university!

UWA Motorsport fire safety training

In the motorsport game, safety is of paramount importance and because of this, UWA Motorsport always try and take the necessary precautions. Amongst other things, fire safety is a huge consideration thanks to the environment in which we operate. We are forever making sure that our place of work, both inside and outside the lab, has the appropriate tools for safety.
Organised through the university, UWA Motorsport took part in a level-one fire safety training course. This involved an hour of theory about the use of the appropriate fire extinguishers followed by practicing what was learnt on a fire which was controlled by the instructor. The practical side of the course provided students with a situation where they must use the correct technique to put out the fire not only with an extinguisher but also with a fire blanket.
The course was a great way to begin developing an awareness about fire and learning about extinguishing small fires in the unlikely chance of such an occurence at UWA Motorsport.

Welcome Apache Energy

It is with great pleasure that the team welcomes Apache Energy as a gold sponsor of UWA Motorsport. Apache has chosen a great time to join the team as we attempt to defend our title in Werribee, Victoria this year. We greatly appreciate Apache Energy’s support and are looking forward to a healthy working relationship with them.
Apache Energy operates here in Western Australia and is a subsidiary of the Apache Corporation and has operations in the US, Canada, Egypt, Argentina and UK. Apache Energy provides the state of Western Australia with over 30% of its domestic natural gas supply.

Thanks Apache Energy!

Formula SAE Australasia update

With only approximately 50 days left until the beginning of the Formula SAE Australasia competition held in Werribee, Victoria, we’re certainly getting excited about the prospect of racing. This year, the competition held here in Australia is also the FISITA World Championship so we will be attempting to defend our crown. Thanks to this, there will be a plethora of teams coming from around the world including Malaysia, New Zealand, Germany, India and of course Australia. We all look forward to the chance of going up against some of the best in the world and wish all the other teams the best in their preparations.
Below is a table of the teams that are taking part:

Australian National University	RMIT Racing	University of Southern Queensland
Curtin University of Technology	Swinburne University of Technology	University of Stuttgart
Deakin University	Universiti Teknologi Petronas- Malaysia	University of Sydney
Edith Cowan University	University of Adelaide	University of Western Australia
Helsinki University of Technology	University of Auckland	University of Western Sydney
Indian Institute of Technology Madras	University of Ballarat	University of Wollongong
Monash University	University of Melbourne	Victoria University
MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology	University of New South Wales	Universiti of Teknology Malaysia
Queensland University of Technology	University of Newcastle	Chitkara
P.E.S Institute of Technology	University of Queensland	Guru

Spotlight on Sponsors

Ayres Composite Panels support UWA Motorsport by supplying high quality panels for various parts of our race cars. Ayres has been a solid supporter of the team and we sincerely thanks them for their help.
Ayres Composite Panels specialise in the development and manufacture of light weight panel systems especially for marine applications. Their panels are light weight and fire resistant keeping their products ahead in today's industry.
We would like to thank Ayres for providing us with their products and hope to continue the partnership for years to come.

Thanks Ayres!!

Contact Ayres Composite Panels:

Ayres Composite Panels
25- 27 Clune St
Bayswater WA 6053

guz Guz Engineering is a machining workshop specialising in high quality CNC, lathe and milling work. Guz has been one of UWA Motorsport’s most loyal supporters and we are eternally thankful to them for their help.
This year, Guz has sponsored a new lathe to give to the UWA Motorsport workshop, helping the team not only in becoming more efficient but also improving our manual workshop skills. It is a fantastic contribution and we are all highly appreciative of this gift.