Imperial Racing Green gear up for 2009

A team from Imperial College's largest undergraduate project has competed in the first Forumla Zero Championship

Imperial Racing Green, the College's student-led project to design and build hydrogen fuel cell racing vehicles, is set for an exciting 2009 after announcing the team's intention to compete in a new Formula Student category.  This will build on the team's excellent perfomance in the inaugural Formula Zero championship in August 2008, held in Rotterdam.

The Imperial Racing Green Formual Zero entry  was the only vehicle to complete every round of the tournament without any major problems. Despite posting the fastest time in the final endurance round of the competition, the format of the championship meant that the team finished a highly respectable third. This was in no small part due to the driving abilities of Toby Schulz (3rd year Mech Eng), who was voted in as driver by his teammates.

In addition to Formula Zero, the team are also building a larger ‘track car sized vehicle' to compete in the new low carbon category (Class 1a) within Formula Student. It is the team's aim that their Formula Student entry will be the world's first ever hydrogen fuel cell racing car.

The largest extracurricular undergraduate project at the college, Imperial racing green allows over 100 students from eight Imperial College engineering departments to work with leading academics in their fields, and gain first-hand experience of designing and building hydrogen fuel cell powered motor vehicles.

Imperial Racing Green is supported by numerous sponsors and charitable contributors. These include the Imperial College Trust, which contributed £5000 to the team, as well as a generous donation by the Old Centralian's Trust. Imperial Racing Green is also a part of EnVision 2010, a major Imperial College London initiative focusing on the education of undergraduates in the Faculty of Engineering, and on their preparation for their future careers. By giving undergraduates hands-on experience in the design, development and construction of fuel cell vehicles, the project allows the engineers of the future to engage with real projects, with competitions like Formula Zero giving undergraduates a chance to test their work in a competitive environment.

If you are interested in supporting the Imperial Racing Green project, through a donation, sponsorship or contribution in kind, please contact Gary Surridge at the Office of Alumni and Development, at g.surridge@imperial.ac.uk, or visit the Imperial racing Green Website at www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/racinggreen/home.html