HKU Racing 2019

Host department: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Supervisor: Dr. C.K. Lee (EEE)

Advisers: Dr. C.K. Chan (ME), Dr. Match W.L. Ko (ME)

About Us

HKU racing is the University of Hong Kong’s very first motorsports team. Founded in late July of 2018. The team starts with 2 friends having a vision to one day participate in formula student. With the support of the university, we quickly gain momentum and have since grown to a team of 40 plus students, all passionate about motorsports.

Formula Student is a renowned educational engineering competition, combining practical engineering with soft skills including business planning and project management. It is a proving ground for students who want to create and change the world. Electrification of the transportation system is here, the combination of the electric powertrain and the traditional mechanical system has made this competition attractive to lots of industries leading to companies’ attention and support. This competition jump-starts our students’ knowledge and skills set for their future career. HKU Racing is the first team from Hong Kong to compete in Formula Student (European series).

Event Host: Imeche

Objective of HKU Racing

Develop & build a single seated, formula-style race car for Formula Student UK class 1 (2020) hosted by Institution of Mechanical Engineers (ImechE).

We have ranked the 3rd overall team in the Formula Student UK class 2 events during the summer of 2019, we will aim to build a running full-scale prototype and participate in Formula Student UK class 1 events in 2020 and onward.

What will team members do in the project?

Team members will design and build a racing car from the ground up. The car is required to perform in numerous dynamic events that will prove the car’s capabilities in terms of speed and reliability. Those events are AutoX, acceleration, skid-pad, endurance. HKU Racing will be up against more than 100 teams from all over the world.

How will team members benefit from the project

Team members will learn about vehicle dynamics, generative design, additive manufacturing, topology optimization, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), aerodynamic design optimization, power electronics, battery management, mathematical model development of mechanical systems and many more. On top of all the technical skills, they will also learn about being a team player, which is a paramount skill in any engineering project they might face in the future.

Why is this project important to us?

The project provides us the opportunity to put our knowledge in practice for a competitive nature. The correlation between building a vehicle and designing a vehicle also makes this experience unparalleled in terms of real world application. On top of designing a vehicle that performs well, production cost has to be kept at minimum and a business plan is required. This project provides our team members comprehensive first hand experience on all aspects of engineering.

What are the biggest challenges in this project?

An extremely steep learning curve coupled with countless optimization cycles is the biggest challenge. With little prior experience and knowledge in designing the vehicle and manufacturing planning are heavily relied on self learning. Limited testing opportunities also means the team needs to extensively make use of computational simulation to validate the design and better understand the vehicle. These simulation results are then used to further refine the design.

Any training for the team?

Worried about not having the required skills? Intimidated by the complexity of the project? Don’t be! Our existing members will try their best to help you get familiar with the skills and knowledge you need. Moreover, you will be given plenty of time to gear up yourself to one day take up a leading role in the team.

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Team Organization

We believe effective communication is key for a team project’s success, that is why our team structure is simple and direct. Making us capable to act swiftly. No fuss, just work hard.

Chassis

Suspension

Aero & Bodywork

Powertrain

Driving input

Electrical

Chassis

Suspension

Aero & Bodywork

Powertrain

Driving input

Electrical

Our Sponsors

Previous result

SCMP Coverage

2019 March we invited the team principal of DS Techeetah Formula E team to visit us. We learnt a lot from Mr Mark Preston.

Read the article >

IMechE interview

As the first team from Hong Kong to participate Formula Student UK, we were kindly invited to chat with the event host. It is our pleasure to be invited !

Read the article >

Faculty news

Achieving phenomenal result, we are featured in the faculty news.

Read the article >

Recruitment

I want to be a designer an Engineer an analyst

Are you passionate about motor racing? Do you want to achieve something remarkable in your university life? If your answer to the questions above is yes, then you should join us! We are looking for passionate new member to join us and help us grow the team further! Just sign up with the link then we will contact you to see how we can make use of talents like you!

Any commitment needed for students to become HKU Racing team members?

Creating a running vehicle is no mean feat, therefore lots of time and effort has to be poured into the project if it were to be successful. You are expected to be spending at least 4 hours of work per week and be a motivated person to constantly looking for new skills and knowledge to perfect the design. Work hards pay off, you will be filled with joy and satisfaction in the end for sure!

Email us at jvhkuracing@gmail if you are interested!

Info Session

This year’s info session has completed. Thank you for coming and have a chat with us, if you are late to our recruitment news, feel free to send us an email and have a chat, we might still be able to offer you a chance!