{"id":83952,"date":"2014-09-15T11:53:07","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T08:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/technion-student-formula-2014\/"},"modified":"2014-09-15T11:53:07","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T08:53:07","slug":"technion-student-formula-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/technion-student-formula-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Technion Student Formula 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technion\u2019s Mad Dash<\/b><\/h2>\n

Technion\u2019s Formula Student Team Competing in the 2014 Formula SAE Championship in Italy Awarded Special Prize<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"Technion<\/a>
Technion Formula Team 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Technion delegation to the International Formula Student Race returned to Israel last week after winning a special prize, awarded to them by the chief designer of the Fiat Group (Alpha Romeo,\u00a0Maserati\u00a0and Ferrari), for the best design and for showing the greatest improvement since the previous competition. In the overall rankings, the team came in 28th<\/sup>\u00a0place out of 44.<\/p>\n

The leaders of the team, which consists of some 40 students from different Technion faculties, are Doris Pitilon and Ahmad Omri.<\/p>\n

Doris, who was born in the US and grew up in Holon, completed her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering this summer within the Academic Reserves\/Atuda framework (a program\u00a0which enables youngsters who are intended to join the army as soldiers, to study academic studies prior to their military service); she will shortly be called up to\u00a0the IDF\u2019s\u00a0Ordnance Corps.<\/p>\n

Ahmad, who grew up in Germany and in\u00a0Sandala Village near Afula, completed his undergraduate degree at the Technion through the NAM (an acronym in Hebrew for Outstanding Arab Youth) Program and is currently pursuing his master\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering. Members on the student formula team\u00a0emphasized the\u00a0tremendous contribution\u00a0of\u00a0Prof. Reuven Katz’s, Head of the\u00a0Center for Manufacturing\u00a0Systems and Robotics\u00a0at the Faculty of Mechnical Engineering, who helped\u00a0them\u00a0with the fundraising efforts of the project,\u00a0supplied them\u00a0with a\u00a0lab to work in,\u00a0and incorporated this\u00a0program\u00a0into the\u00a0annual course under his guidance:\u00a0“New Product\u00a0Design.”<\/p>\n

\"Technion<\/a>
Technion formula in action<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Group’s activity\u00a0was funded in part\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0Grand\u00a0Technion\u00a0Energy\u00a0Studies Program (GTEP).<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute I heard about this project I wanted to be a part of it,\u201d said Michael Kootzenko, a student from the Faculty of Aerospace, who was in charge of the car\u2019s\u00a0exterior\u00a0surface; Kootzenko also drove the car in the competition. \u201cConstructing the car for me was the fulfillment of a childhood dream. We built a car that was much stronger than what was required, and I\u2019m extremely proud of the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was attracted to this project because I wanted to do something practical during my studies,\u201d adds Doris\u00a0Pitilon, \u201cAnd constructing the car is\u00a0mechanical engineering at its best. It has been the main thing\u00a0on my mind\u00a0over\u00a0these\u00a0past two years,\u00a0and what\u00a0I gained\u00a0in\u00a0terms of\u00a0management\u00a0and engineering\u00a0I would never have learned\u00a0anywhere else.\u00a0The competition\u00a0itself\u00a0was an amazing experience. Teams came\u00a0from all over the world to compete. We all camped out together\u00a0near\u00a0the racetrack,\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0atmosphere\u00a0was truly great.”<\/p>\n

The competition included a review of engineering aspects (“the immobile part of the competition”), followed by the various examinations evaluating acceleration, speed and performance. “We learned from our mistakes last year and came to this year\u2019s competition well prepared with a stronger and faster car. We excelled in the acceleration heat (75m in 4.3 seconds), and also in the endurance heat.”<\/p>\n

The Technion race car had four drivers from the team: Doris, Michael, Gilad Agam and David Amarilio. Over the past year, the drivers trained at \u201cDan Karting\u201d in Haifa, where they were provided with access to a simulator and training free of charge. Other donors included Kanfit Ltd., which supplied the\u00a0carbon composite materials for the car\u2019s\u00a0body, and\u00a0\u201cPlasko\u201d\u00a0that transported the car to and from Italy. Presently, the team is working on formulating the 2015 student formula team, which will represent the Technion in next year\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n

See how the team prepares for the championship race:<\/p>\n


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