As a part-time activity, being in the DUT Racing Team can be very well combined with studying. Team members are expected to spend at least 15 hours per week doing activities within the team. As an engineer, you will be divided into one out of five departments. Obviously it is possible to inform us about your preference. The five departments are described below.

Within the department, you are responsible for the entire development process of 1 part of the car. This begins with a description of the functions and requirements of your part, from which you will start the design process and eventually make sure the part is properly produced and assembled.

Powertrain

The Powertrain department is responsible for driving the car, right from the energy source (accumulators) all the way to the torque that is delivered to the wheels. When the driver pushes the throttle, an electronic signal is sent to the motor controllers, that will ask a certain amount of energy from the accumulators. This electric energy is then conversed to mechanical energy by the electric motors. A gear box then takes care of the correct drive ratio, and the resulting torque is delivered to the wheels by the drive shafts. The Powertrain department is very diverse – the design of powertrain parts can include high-power electronics (accumulators, motor controllers) but also very challenging mechanical designs for the gear box and drive shafts.

Chassis

The Chassis department takes care of what is sometimes referred to as ‘the biggest bracket of the car’ and serves as the cockpit for the driver. Besides that, the chassis has a protecting function: in case of a crash, the drive must not be hurt. This imposes a great challenge: the chassis must cope with all the loads introduced by the wheels, be comfortable for the driver, comply with all the strict safety regulations – and all this while being as light as possible! For that reason, the DUT Racing chassis consists of a carbon fibre monocoque combined with a carbon/aramid crash nose. Besides all this, the Chassis department is also responsible for the pedal box and the motor cover, that ensure maximum comfort and safety for the driver.

Suspension

The Suspension department, as the name indicates, is responsible for the suspension of the car, which includes handling. The wheels of the car are mounted onto the ‘inner wheels’ – structural parts that transfer all the loads to the geometry (A arms) which, in turn, transfer the loads into the chassis. Meanwhile, the spring-damper system ensures good damping and stability of the car. The Suspension department also designs the brakes and the steering system of the car. Important topics for this department are statics, kinematics and mechanics.

Electronics

The Electronics department designs the neural system of the car: over 50 sensors are continuously logging the performance of the car. De wiring harness connects all the sensors to our self-developed data acquisition system. Also, many different safety systems need to be implemented to ensure the safety of the electric car. For the electronics department, we are looking for students who like to develop electronics themselves and want to do this to a state-of-the-art standard within our team!

Operations

A member of the Operations department is responsible for everything that has to be done besides the technical aspect of our team. This can really be anything: from organising activities, networking, PR and sponsoring to making nice gadgets, flyers, posters and movies. A good Operations department is crucial to the success of the team, as they are responsible for providing ample resources for the technical team to design and produce a racing car. Also, the Operations department aims to make our project famous in the outside world. Good people skills and thinking out of the box are things you could use very well in this department!