The technology driving UPM Racing: from the classroom to the track

I can still remember the first time I walked into the UPM Racing workshop, about two years ago. Back then, my only experience in the world of engineering revolved around the equations and concepts we were learning in my university classes, which we only rarely had any chance to apply in the real world. But as soon as I entered that workshop, I saw that it was not just the real world, but a world of its own, and very different from what you might see described in your textbooks, or what you might imagine while sitting in class. And even though they tell you that your computer-aided design (CAD) software can take care of everything, the reality is quite different, because the car parts you learn how to design on your computer have to be manufactured, and fit together correctly. This is the art of making sure that everything actually works, even when the pressure is on and things are not quite going the way they’re supposed to.

These days, after being involved in an actual competition as the person responsible for the Chassis division, I see all of this in a very different way. For us, Formula Student is more than just an “international design competition”, it’s a way of life. It’s the challenge of building a single-seater racing car, from the ground up. And we’re not the only ones doing this, because we’ll be competing head-to-head against other universities from around the world. But the actual racing is just the final result, because we have to learn how to manage budgets, and meet deadlines, and work with other people and a whole range of resources. In fact, it’s all very similar to running a small business. When you first arrive, it’s natural to focus on the technical aspects: carbon fiber parts, engine power specs... but soon enough you learn that a winning car requires much more than just accurate calculations.

Racing against the clock is only part of it

It’s reasonable to think that the winner of a competition for single-seater race cars will be determined by the “dynamic” tests that play out on the racetrack. However, this is only partly true, because the racing is only half of the competition.

The other half is something unique in the world of motorsports, because we also have to explain and justify all of the decisions we’ve made during the entire season. Why do the spoilers have this specific shape? Why does the battery have that number of cells? Why did we choose that lamination sequence? And the list goes on! We also know that the people who will be judging our efforts have spent decades working on these same types of subjects.

So if your best answer is “just because”, you better think again, since you’ll have to back up your decisions with data and simulations, to show why your design is the best. This is also a moment of personal and professional growth, because just having the best data is not enough. We also have to present our data in a clear, concise, and convincing manner.

We also can’t just say that some aspect of our design is the way it is because that’s how somebody else did it before. Instead, we have to explain those concepts even though they’re not our own, which is actually pretty hard for an engineer to do.

From apprentice to “putting out fires”: the challenge of becoming a manager

Although the first year is hard because of everything new you have to learn, the second year requires a whole new mentality. You go from working “in the trenches”, completely absorbed in the technical tasks, to having new responsibilities as a manager for a whole group of people. When you take on a new role as the head of a division, you realize pretty quickly that engineering is also about managing people, and budgets, and lots and lots of planning.

This is how we begin to develop what are known as “soft skills”, although another way to put it would be “learning how to survive”. You start by managing parts and materials, but you end up being a crisis manager, because at any given time, all of the plans you worked so hard on could end up needing a full reworking. Suddenly, your job is not just to make sure that the chassis is sufficiently rigid. Now you have to comply with the scheduling laid out on a Gantt chart, even when this seems next to impossible, while also trying to squeeze everything you can out of every penny in your budget. However, what this requires above all is knowing how to make decisions, even when you don’t have all the information you need, or all the time you need either.

But there is another part that makes you feel good, because now it’s also your job to help out the newest members of the team, and even though teaching and motivating these new arrivals can be challenging, many people find it to be their most rewarding task. This is how I was able to learn that what matters the most at any company is not its technology, but the people who develop that technology, and maintain it, and keep it moving forward.

GMV: Not just a logo, but a real member of the team

In this world of motorsports where high performance is an obsession, having the support of a company like GMV feels like a privilege. This is why for us, GMV is not just a logo that we put on our car’s spoiler. The company is a real part of our personal growth as we become the people we want to be.

When they invited us to visit their facilities, or attend one of the talks they used to give for us, we had a chance to escape from our university bubble and see the realities of the working world. We saw how real engineers apply technologies to real projects, and we began to understand the importance of the skills and knowledge we were learning at school. It was very inspirational to learn that many of the same things we were doing on a small scale in our workshop were also directly applicable to working on cutting-edge tech projects.

In fact, the similarities were remarkable. The relationships we developed with GMV made it seem quite natural that many of us would end up working there after finishing our degrees. In this way, GMV has been like an accelerator for our careers, as a place where we learned about the kind of quality standards that exist in the employment market, even before we had our first real jobs.

Summer is on its way!

Right now, after thousands of hours in the workshop and endless cups of coffee, we have one clear objective: to build this season’s race car and put it to the test. Every day we look forward to the arrival of summer, when we’ll have our chance to represent our university and compete against the rest of Europe.

The challenge is enormous, but we also know that this is not a challenge that we have to face on our own. Having the backing of sponsors like GMV gives us the confidence we need to reach the finish line. Thanks to this special partnership, we’re not only building a race car. We’re building ourselves, as we become the engineers of tomorrow.