Ranchi: The city may not have a Formula 1 racing circuit such as the Buddha International Circuit in Greater Noida or international drivers such as Karun Chandhok or Narain Karthikeyan, but a students' team from here has been making the state proud by regularly participating in competitions with indigenously developed prototype racing cars.
Team Srijan, a group of 35 students studying in various streams of engineering at Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, is now seriously pursuing their dream of winning Formula Bharat 2018 to be held at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore next January. Formula Bharat is an engineering student design competition where teams compete with formula-style cars.
"We have already cleared the initial screening round by securing the third position in the rule quiz held earlier this year in which 98 teams participated," said Ayush Gupta, a member of the group.
Such competitions not only help students to design and manufacture formula cars but also improve their skills in project management which include raising funds, said team leader Mrigendra Narayan Singh. He added that out of the Rs 16.12-lakh budget needed for making the car for the January event, only 25 per cent will be provided by the institution.
"Our aim is to groom a group of engineers with hands-on experience in designing, manufacturing and project management," he said.
Team Srijan, which was formed by BIT students in 2007, had participated in a similar competition in UK that year. However, after lying low for the next five years because of funds crunch, the group was revived in 2012 and since then it has been taking part in various competitions. In the last edition of Formula Bharat, they came 12th.
Gupta said the team has been improving the car every year by introducing new materials and technology. "We have used carbon fibre reinforced plastic for more strength, better heat tolerance and to bring down the car's weight from 280kg to 220kg," he said.
"We were supported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Tata Motors and Tata Steel in the past," Mrigendra said, adding that they were also eyeing for support from international automobile giants such as Jaguar, BMW and Toyota so that they could participate in international formula events in future.
