Presidential visits, Karting socials and Solvay hit platinum
This week has been another busy one for the team, with a visit from the President of the IMechE, go karting for a team social and a very exciting delivery from a returning sponsor.
IMechE President visit
On Thursday, SHU Racing were lucky enough to be part of the annual regional visit by the president of the IMechE (Institute of Mechanical Engineers), Professor Joe McGeough CEng FIMechE, IMechE Yorkshire Regional Chairman, Luke Farmer, South Yorkshire Area Committee Chairman, Jonathan Fewings, and the Yorkshire Business Development Manager, Denis Healy.
As part of his visit, Professor McGeough was given a tour of the facilities, including the SHU Racing lab, along with demonstrations of student work. During his visit, the visitors were told about the history of the team and how we have managed to continually go from strength to strength in the competition over the last few years, progressing to one of the top twenty UK teams. The aims for the 2020 season were also discussed, as well as demonstrating some of the technical developments and latest innovations for the upcoming competition.
It was also a fantastic opportunity for the team to talk with Luke Farmer and Jonathan Fewings, Sheffield Hallam Alumni and former SHU racing team members, about how the car has progressed and where the path which the team are taking to secure our competitiveness at competition.
Tom Fox, our Drivers Environment manager also presented a 3D printed model of the SHU Racing car to Professor McGeough, which demonstrated how the team are able to utilise additive manufacture in a multitude of different materials including bamboo, aluminium, plastic and carbon fibre reinforce plastic.
We hope that the IMechE representatives enjoyed their tour of Sheffield Hallam University and thank them for taking the time to meet with the team.
Solvay return once again
This week SHU Racing have taken delivery of a roll of carbon fibre pre preg from our headline, and long standing partners, Solvay. This will form the new bodywork and aero package for the 2020 season designed by bodywork and aerodynamics manager, Matthew Hoyle. Improving the aerodynamics of the car is a time-consuming process and therefore being supplied with some of the best materials to produce the design is a highly beneficial partnership for SHU Racing.
Solvay is producer of advanced materials and speciality chemicals and is a global leader in its field. Their constantly evolving products offer sustainable solutions for new transportation, consumer goods, healthcare and industrial production with each product accommodating for the ever-changing demands of the market.
Solvay describes innovation as its driver and has been ‘connecting people and scientific minds for 156 years’. They describe themselves as ‘a science company with a remarkable past, aiming to re-invent the future with our technologies’.
For more information on Solvay, please have a look at their website; www.solvay.com/en/
The team would like to thank Solvay for their continued support of SHU Racing, and look forward to seeing the new bodywork on the car very soon.
Letting off some steam
As an annual social for the team, go karting is always a good opportunity not only for the team to have a bit of fun, but also for managers to find our the drivers for Silverstone. The evening was a great success with some blistering lap times being produced by some of the team, the decision over who drives this year will not be an easy one. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming driver updates in the coming months!
Meet the Team
The meet the team portion of our newsletter is a chance for you to gain an insight into the team and its members. This week we welcome James Harrold, a first year automotive engineer who is a part of the WHUBs department.
Name: James Harrold
Age: 18
Course: Beng Automotive Engineering
Roles: WHUBS department team member & Driver
Hobbies and Interests: Karting, biking and model car racing
Favourite Artist: I don’t have one, I just listen to playlists and song radio on Spotify.
Favourite Car: Caterham 620S
Favourite thing about Sheffield: Everything is walkable
Reasons for Joining SHU Racing: I have always been into cars and motorsport as a whole. Joining SHU Racing is a good way for me to gain valuable experience in the industry I want to inevitably end up in, and to learn how the dynamics of a team works. It was also a good way to meet loads of like-minded people.
