CHESHIRE COLLEGE HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS “THRUST”

To Victory In Electric Car Race

Higher Education students in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering won second place at the Greenpower Formula 24+ race with their car the “Thrust CCSW” (named after ThrustSSC, the land speed record car).

The team travelled to Mallory Park Racing Circuit near Leicester on Monday 24th April to compete at the highly anticipated electric car race. Prior to the event, teams were provided with the same battery and motor, and they were required to design, build and race an electric car around a circuit to total up the most mileage. Sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), it is considered an invaluable opportunity for STEM students.

The students involved in building and racing the car were full-time HNC Mechanical Engineering students Neve Pointon, Sam Gooley, Harry Parr, Matthew Lewin and Ryan Winters. The team also worked in partnership with Sandbach Girls High School, who lent Cheshire College their kit car after receiving some 3D printing support from the Higher Education students.

HNC Mechanical & Electrical Manufacturing students worked on the design of the chassis and drivetrain of the car, whilst HND Mechanical and Manufacturing students used Computational Fluids Dynamics software to design and analyse the bodywork. Altogether, it took the team 4 weeks of modifications and testing until they were happy that the car was reliable enough to compete in the 1-hour endurance race.

Lecturer in Engineering Daniel Evans said that the Greenpower race provided an excellent platform to take principles taught in the classroom and apply them to real life:

“Electric cars are certainly the future, so students being involved in designing and building a car, especially at such an early stage in their careers, will certainly help them when applying for jobs. Previous Greenpower competitors have even gone on to work for successful Formula One teams. Creating the “Thrust CCSW” was a true team effort and we’re all elated that we won second place.”

Higher Education at Cheshire College offers high-quality teaching from industry and academic professionals at a lower tuition fee with smaller class sizes to ensure students are able to get the most out of their studies and achieve the qualification they’ve always dreamed of.