The team FSAE Unicamp presented its new car, the F2019, to the public last Friday night (11). Held in auditorium 5 of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the event brought together around 300 people, including students, teachers and sponsors, and was the conclusion of work carried out by students since the beginning of the year, in which they applied knowledge learned in the classroom and experiences necessary for the job market.
This year, the F2019 prototype innovates mainly in the materials used. The chassis is made entirely of micro steel alloyed with niobium, a compound that makes the car more resistant in competitions. The entire aerodynamic package is made from carbon fiber. It also has a 6cc Yamaha R600 engine and has a power of 86 horsepower. When accelerating, the F2019 goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 4 seconds, a performance compared to a Porsche sports car. "This car is a work of several years that has been perfected. The base project came from 2015, then we improved, solving some problems. But every year we develop the car from scratch. At the beginning of the year we started the project phase , which varies in size depending on our goals. This year, there were 3 months of projects", explains Gabriel Rigo, the team's project director.
All these aspects should help the team achieve a good ranking in the Formula SAE Brazil 2019, university competition that brings together teams from all over the country. It will take place between November 27th and December 1st at Esporte Clube Piracicabano de Automobilismo, in Piracicaba.
Throughout the competition, prototypes are evaluated in relation to their technical specificities and performance in endurance tests and running performance. The students' organizational and work skills are also assessed in tests in which they must present the industrial and commercial viability of their cars. The final classification of the teams involves the sum of all evaluations. In 2018, FSAE Unicamp ranked 10th in the Brazilian ranking. This year, the goal is to be among the top two, a position that guarantees a place in the world stage, which will be held in the United States.
Concern about diversity
In the search for victory, the team was not only concerned with the technical aspects of the project. Since the beginning of the year, they have held dynamics and discussions with the aim of training future professionals committed to diversity. "Whether we like it or not, the team is a reflection of the university. We know that the university is still not very diverse, it is not yet the face of the Brazilian population. We are trying to improve this, we know that this automotive environment is still very masculine, it's a reflection. So we're doing everything we can to improve, bringing more girls to the team", comments João Pedro Candido, responsible for managing the team's people.
In addition to including more students with different profiles and origins, FSAE Unicamp worked throughout the first semester to make everyone feel valued and that they were working towards a common goal. "The topic of diversity is new for us and has been following a trend at Unicamp itself. We realize that, more and more, we receive more diverse students and we want to learn as a team how to make the environment comfortable for everyone who wants to build the same project with us", reveals Renan Rodrigues, team captain.
Tradition that trains professionals
The FSAE Unicamp team has existed since 2006 and has achieved good results in the competition. In total, 11 prototypes were built and 44 trophies were won. They have also participated three times in the international stage of Formula SAE, being the first Latin American team to win 1st place in one of the evaluations carried out. This occurred in the acceleration test held in 2012 in the city of Lincoln, in the United States.
In addition to motivating students to seek victory, the experience provided by Formula SAE contributes to the professional training of young people. According to Renan Rodrigues, it is a way for them to experience life in companies. "It's not a racing competition, but an engineering one. It brings together all aspects of the construction of your car, both in the practical part, but mainly in the technical part. We have to present all the project justifications, all the parameters, the that we achieved based on data. It's a very good preparation for what we're going to face out there, I have no doubt about that", assesses the captain.
Team advisor since the beginning, Kamal Ismail, professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM), analyzes that the opportunity for them to learn to work as a team is the greatest lesson students can learn. "This is a type of training that they don't learn in the classroom, they work as a team, as equals, they listen to differences, they debate, but in the end a decision comes out that everyone agrees on. I think that's the most important thing, in addition to the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom. When they go to work in the industry, they will have to work as a team, they will have to be ready to accept differences", celebrates the professor.
