Why is it that when a team of students build a car that is against the so called "norms" and is slightly outside the box, why is it that they are criticized by not only the scrutineers, the judges but also advisors. They receive praise from other students but get put down by the senior officials. Is FSAE a competition for engineering students designed to develop and foster ingenuity or merely a competition to win?
What I am referring to is the reception a team received at the recent Australasian Formula SAE event in Melbourne. As soon as their car was rolled off the trailer and taken to scrutineering it, and the team were lectured by senior officials that the car they had built was "not what the competition was about and that it was too technical, complicated and pointless in its design". There was nothing overly complicated about the car nor its design. Certainly nothing in comparison to the events thoroughly deserved and stunning winning car from Western Australia. It was purely designed with a different approach to the "standard" FSAE car. The officials came across as narrow minded and stuck in their views. Instead of looking at the car for its many different and creative ideas, it was heavily criticized and scrutinized.
The car itself in my opinion was stunning and unfortunately did not compete in the dynamic events due to a clutch issue (One of the only parts on the car carried over from the previous first year car). The officials commented to the team that they had "bitten off more than they could chew" and implied that the team had somehow failed. All this without even knowing anything about the team or the weeks building up to the competition. The fact that the car was nearly ready to compete less the noise test and brake test was a credit to the extremely dedicated team considering the events which unfolded leading up to the comp.
They were told they should copy other successful teams designs (isn't that a form of plagiarism). Not only do I consider the comments made by certain officials irresponsible and inappropriate but I think they are the ones who clearly do not know what the competition is about. I'm of the opinion that the car they built is what the competition is about and FSAE and motorsport will move forward if more teams thought outside of the box and took a gamble on an idea. What sort of an engineer came up with the fan car, active suspension, the twin chassis Lotus, zero-shift or front torque transfer? The one who follows others or the one who takes a different approach. They took on an ambitious project and I hope that they can find sufficient funding to get to Formula Student UK or other European or USA events because I look forward to seeing it on the track. Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained. Now that I've put you all to sleep, your thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.
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