It’s been a long, busy few months since the last USM newsletter and there’s been a huge amount of work going on. The team have relocated back into the James Weir Building following a year as guests of the Civil Engineering department, and the 2013 season looks set to be a cracker.

Under New Management

This year’s team features a healthy contingent of experienced final-year members, offering an opportunity for a bit of a team restructure. Team Manager David Wilkinson is assisted by Technical Director Roy Yuile, Commercial Director Katrina Pye and six System Heads, each responsible for a sub-group working on a particular area of the car.

Splitting the design team into six independent sub-groups has enabled effective knowledge transfer within each group, helping to lay a solid foundation for next year’s team.

A comprehensive Engineering Report is also being compiled as the year progresses, detailing every aspect of USM13’s design and manufacture, capturing as much knowledge and experience as possible for future reference.

USM13 Objectives

Following review of previous results, analysis of 2012 data, lap

simulation studies and a group brainstorming session, USM have opted for an ultra-lightweight car concept for 2013, featuring a single-cylinder Suzuki 450cc ATV engine and 10” wheels.

While the new engine will produce less power than USM’s traditional Honda CBR600 four-pot, the reduced forward acceleration will be offset by improved braking and cornering due to a 25% decrease in overall mass.

The biggest step forward in competition performance should come from the planned two months of track testing and driver training, allowing the team to understand and make the most of the car’s potential.

This means an extremely tight design and build schedule coupled with a complete car redesign, so USM’s 2013 season is guaranteed to be an extremely busy one!

USF Collaboration

Another major first for USM is the establishment of a new partnership with the FSAE team from the University of South

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Florida, USF Racing. USF are one of the only other teams in the world running our new Suzuki LT-R450 engine, and the partnership offers both teams the chance to share engine development resources and experience.

USM and USF compete on different continents and we have the opportunity to work together on the development and tuning of all engine systems, reducing the workload for each team while benefitting from the combined input of two different design groups.

We’re very excited to see what this partnership will produce, and would recommend a visit to TeamUSFRacing on Facebook to have a look at how our American cousins are doing!

Competition Registration

As usual, USM have registered for the Formula Student 2013 competition, due to take place at Silverstone from 3rd-7th July.

This year’s competition will be bigger than ever, with 149 teams from 34 different countries signed up to take part.

We are also delighted to have secured a spot at Formula Student Germany for the fourth year in a row, completing the online Early Registration Quiz in a thoroughly

respectable 2min 14sec. FSG is one of the most prestigious events on the Formula Student calendar, and USM will be competing alongside 74 of the world’s top Combustion teams, with another 40 taking part in the parallel Electric competition.

After a successful outing at FSG 2012, USM will be looking to build on our strong performance in the Static events and make much more of an impact in the Dynamic categories. With a couple of months of pre-season testing planned, we should be in a strong position going into the summer competitions.

USM CAD Suite

A fantastic new facility dedicated to USM use is now up and running, thanks to a substantial grant from the University of Strathclyde Alumni Fund. The team make use of a lot of specialist software packages and spend a large amount of time constructing the whole car using Computer Aided Drawing (CAD) before manufacture begins.

Historically, this involved memory sticks, portable hard drives, laptops, home PCs and a high risk of communication errors, so having a dedicated IT workspace right next to our workshop has

been a massive boost to the team, allowing effective collaboration between designers and providing a hub for the team’s design activities.

We’re hugely grateful to the Alumni Fund for their support and to Autodesk and 3Dconnexion for providing us with professional CAD software and 3D mice free of charge. The suite has become a second home for USM members, so feel free to drop by the ground floor of the James Weir building for a visit if you’re passing.

SBS Support

Following some braking issues during FSUK2012, we’re delighted to introduce our first new sponsor for 2013, Scandinavian Braking Systems.

SBS have kindly agreed to supply USM with race-spec Dual Carbon brake pads for our front brakes, which should come in extremely handy!

Motoring.co.uk

Another new addition to our sponsor portfolio this season is Motoring.co.uk, a web community linking automotive consumers, dealers and vehicle manufacturers together online.

Motoring’s support has financed the purchase of USM13’s shiny new 10” wheels, shipped all the way from the USA, and we’re extremely grateful to have them on board.

Shell UK

Also offering their support for the 2013 season are petrochemical giant Shell, who are providing a financial contribution towards the team’s parts and logistics budget.

The team cannot exist without the support of external sponsors, so we’re very pleased to join forces with Shell and look forward to working together.

Discount Displays

Even more good news for the team came in the form of an email from Discount Displays, offering to provide the team with promotional banners in return for some publicity.

Discount Displays supply banners, display stands and promotional materials to a huge range of customers and industries, and it’s great to have their support.

USM13 Build Progress

We’re now well into the second semester of the 2012/13 academic year, almost all component designs have been signed off and the manufacture of USM13 is well underway.

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On the jigging table, USM13’s chassis has quickly taken shape thanks to jigs cut by long-term sponsors Lasered Components and roll-hoops shaped by steel bending experts Barnshaws.

Meanwhile, parcels have been arriving thick and fast, such as this donation from RS Components which included our electrical team’s entire shopping list and some workshop essentials like gaffer tape and cable ties.

INA FAG, part of the Schaeffler Group, have once again agreed to supply all the bearings required for USM13, without which nothing on the car could rotate.

Silicone hosing for our new engine cooling and lubrication systems are winging their way to us from SFS Performance, while various parts have been submitted for machining by our sponsors Artemis, Tannlin and Global Datum.

A surprise visit from Brian Burns of LiftParts Scotland yielded two ½” socket sets for use during the build, while thanks are also due to Arnold Clark, for supplying a Luton box van for transporting our 2012 car to and from promotional events at the tail end of last year, and to Minuteman Press for providing printing services free of charge.

Meanwhile, our LT-R450 is on the testbed in our newly-functional engine test cell ready for tuning, and USM13 is steadily coming together. Keep up to date with our progress via Facebook or Twitter – 2013 is looking good!