Supervised by Philippe CARPENTIER and Maxime KUCHINSKI, 12 second-year students from the Grande Ecole Program at the Lille Campus, divided into three groups, chose to base their project on Formula Student. Today, around fifty students on campus are passionate about this project. Vincent SEFIANE, one of the students involved in the project, shares his experience.
What is Formula Student?
Formula Student is a student motorsport competition created in 1981 that evaluates the design and production of a single-seater car, similar to a Formula 4. The vehicle is therefore built entirely by the students, with significant participation from corporate sponsors in the form of funding or the loan of professional equipment. "We would like to thank our partner companies for their unfailing support, which has enabled us to take part in this year's competition and fulfill the dream of four graduating classes," said Vincent SEFIANE, a member of one of the PJT2A (second-year project) groups and Formula Student.
The complete construction of a vehicle is a colossal task that can be broken down into several stages, starting with a technical study of each part of the single-seater (such as shock absorbers, brakes, etc.), followed by the design of the parts using CAD ( Computer-Aided Design), and finally machining and assembly.
"Our team, FSAM (Formula Student Arts et Métiers), is divided into groups, each responsible for a specific part of the vehicle, but with a strong spirit of mutual support between groups. The parts are machined by the students with the help of machining professors and technicians from Arts et Métiers Lille Campus."
Why did you choose to work on this PJT2A?
"We chose to work on this project because several of us are passionate about motorsports and want to work in the automotive, aeronautics, and other related fields. We therefore wanted to work on a professional project that would draw on all the knowledge we have acquired in preparatory classes and here at Arts Arts et Métiers . In addition, Arts et Métiers offers Arts et Métiers over other schools: the workshops. This means we can manufacture many parts ourselves, which earns us a lot of points in the competition."
How did this project begin?
Students at the Lille campus are entering the Formula Student competition for the first time this year, after dreaming about this project for three years. Initiated by students from the Lille class of 2019, the project culminates in Arts et Métiers first participation Arts et Métiers the 2023 edition in the Netherlands, thanks to the FSAM team made up of students from the classes of 2021 and 2022 who are passionate about cars. The FSAM combustion engine vehicle will compete against 30 student teams in the same category during the summer..
"It's an ambitious project that draws on all our skills, but it also requires a great deal of research. Designing and manufacturing a car is such a complicated task that it takes car manufacturers several decades to master the design and manufacturing methods. We are therefore aware of this difficulty, which is why our primary objective is to manufacture a reliable car that is capable of driving. This will give us a solid foundation for the coming years."
What skills does this PJT2A enable you to develop?
"This PJT2A project draws on all our skills (mechanics, thermodynamics, electronics, CAD, machining, forging, casting, project organization, etc.) and allows us to develop them further in a very concrete and professionalizing project."
What is your organization?
"We have around 50 members in the association, comprising 31 first-year students and 19 second-year students, as well as a few third-year students. For second-year students, PJT2A allows us to allocate four hours to work on this project during class time. We then work outside of class for an average of about 10 hours per week in total. For first-year students, the amount of time spent working is roughly the same since, even though they don't have PJT2A, they are working on the current project as well as next year's project."
What are the next steps or deadlines for your project?
"We are currently in the manufacturing phase of the single-seater, specifically the chassis. We have ordered the parts and will weld them together to build our chassis. At the same time, we are machining numerous parts in the workshops, conducting tensile tests for the chassis welding, and building a welding table. The goal is to have the chassis manufactured by the end of March or early April. The entire single-seater will be finished by early June, and we will conduct track tests until the competition begins on July 8. We are currently looking for partners to help us purchase the raw machined parts and sheet metal for the single-seater ." concludes Vincent.
After its first participation, FSAM wants to continue improving, notably by attempting to participate in the 2024 edition in the electric category. This change of category, after only one year of participation, is explained by the students' desire to tackle the challenges of the future and take a first step towards what may await them in their professional lives.
