Indian students win acclaim at car design competition in US

A group of engineering students from Bangalore have won plaudits at the prestigious Formula Hybrid car design competition, coming second in the design and project management categories for their prototype model.

With 28 teams participating in the competition held in New Hampshire last week, the Bangalore students stood fourth overall in the competition, and came second in the design and project management categories.

The team of about 20 undergraduate students from R V College of Engineering, Bangalore participated in the Formula Hybrid, a design and engineering challenge for university students where they had to design, build and compete an open-wheel, single-seat Formula-style racecar in New Hampshire.

The students are members of 'Ashwa Racing', a research and development project in the engineering college that designs and builds formula-style race cars.

The R V College team has competed in Australia, Germany, Italy and the US.

The team's prototype was designed, manufactured and assembled in Bangalore and shipped to New Hampshire. They had showcased its first hybrid vehicle at the competition last year and had stood 7th out of 17 teams.

Sohan Shetty, a member of the participating team from the college said that last year his team had designed the components and got them manufactured but didn't have time to test each component.

"We documented everything and presented reports, which helped us perform better this year. We had come with the goal to clear the electrical inspection part, which has stringent requirements," he said.

He said the team's aim for next year's competition is to ensure that the car performs well across acceleration and dynamics events.

"We have already built the safety standards and we will be looking at the car's overall performance next year," he said adding that the team hopes to return to the competition next year with an electric and driver-less car.

"Just like a cricket or football team, we have done something for the country. It feels great that at such a young age, we are able to get laurels for the country," he added.

Anushree Jain, another team member, said the hybrid prototype had a series architecture with Agni 95R motor and Pulsar 220 engine. It weighed 350Kg and used a lithium ion battery.

Established in 2003, Ashwa Racing has produced 13 prototype race cars including both the combustion and hybrid, which have participated annually in events held across the globe.

The Formula Hybrid event is run by the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth since 2006, the competition is part of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Collegiate Design Series and is regarded as the most complex and dynamic of the series.