The first electric racing car

New at the Formula Student competition: electric mobility

The electric trend conquers curricula and competitions. One example: the Formula Student Competition 2010.


Image source: Formula Student Gallery

Formula Student Germany?
In a team students build a single seat formula racing car to participate in a worldwide competition. What is important is not speed but the overall package of construction, performance, financial planning and sales arguments.

The challenge of Formula Student is that in addition to their normal studies, students are to gain intensive experience in building and manufacturing as well as with the economic aspects of the automotive industry.


Image source: Formula Student Gallery

New discipline: electric mobility

24 teams intensively worked on solutions to an eco-friendly mobility. Finally eight of them managed to get into the final. Besides all other obstacles the teams have to overcome, scrutineering is hardest: "First of all, all electric drive elements have to be checked for safety. The complete high-voltage system is marked orange on the vehicle and every racing bolide is fitted with an e-stop," says Ulf Steinfurth, head of the scrutineering team.

"Team of TU Delft wins Formula Student Germany The winner of Formula Student Germany 2010 is the team of TU Delft. In the new electric vehicle discipline, Formula Student Electric, the greenteam of the Stuttgart University won the cup."


Image source: Formula Student Gallery

More information:
»»» http://www.formulastudentelectric.de/

World surveillance map

A student delivers criticism.... and in a very imaginative way for that:

Raul Mandru originates from Romania and came to study at the FH in Dortmund. There he graduated in design and he presented the world surveillance map 2008 as his diploma thesis. He did not only win the reddot design award but also his first job as an Art Director at Ogilvy in Düsseldorf.

"The world surveillance map is a great example of transforming social criticism into a piece of art. Raul Mandru links the essential subjects we are dealing with in our social structural change: culture, technology, education and also democracy." Prof. Dieter Gorny, Art Director "Creative Industries" of RUHR.2010 GmbH.



"This thesis has picked up a very interesting topic relevant for society and implemented it on a high design level." Prof. Kurt Mehnert, President of Folkwang Hochschule Essen.

Raul Mandru deals with the issues of 'souss-veillance', an important topic of our forum about the new industrial world. Vincent Puig, Centre Pompidou Paris.

See for yourself:

»»» http://www.mandru.de/map/

»»» http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=210781959040

What’s next?

Lunabotics Mining Competition



The purpose of the Lunabotics Mining Competition is to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, in a competitive environment that may result in innovative ideas and solutions, which could be applied to actual lunar excavation for NASA.

»»» www.nasa.gov