Our World | Building cars and futures

Step into the world of our Grass Roots Education team as they give young engineers the formula for success.

As 93 teams prepare to roll their vehicles onto tarmac of the legendary Silverstone racetrack, you won’t hear names like Red Bull and McLaren vying for poll position. These teams are made up of students – they’re the next generation of engineers and our Grass Roots Education team is helping them race.

“Think of it as the younger sibling of Formula 1,” says Education and Community Engineer Elvis Tinago. “The teams – drawn from university engineering departments – are just like the real deal. They design, build and race their own cars.”

The event, dubbed Formula Student and celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, pitches teams against each other in different categories – such as internal combustion, electric vehicle, concept and autonomous vehicles – and different missions, including acceleration, handling and endurance.

As an aerospace engineer – who came to the team through our Youth Advisory Board – Elvis knows all too well how valuable our support can be to budding engineers: “Most engineering courses are three to five years but many students won’t get much hands-on experience; it’s a lot of theory. You spend all that time designing but, because of small budgets, you can’t afford to build. With our product range and our help, their ideas can become a reality.”

Fast finance

But building a race car isn’t cheap – and that’s where we come in. Through the RS Formula Student Build Fund we donate components, tools and accessories to the value of ￡1,000 each to 30 teams. To win the funding, teams send in a video showcasing their build and detailing their team objectives, how they will use the products, and how they consider sustainability in their build and the product lifecycle.

Elvis explains: “We pick the teams we believe we could add the most value to and who’s work aligns with our purpose. It’s the skills they’ll learn and the innovation, that’s what will make amazing happen for a better world.”

Out of the 61 cars racing, 33 are electric vehicles (EV) which is great news for us as we’ve sponsored the ‘EV’ class – these race cars are much cleaner and kinder to the environment compared to the traditional internal combustion engine.

For many teams, their build simply wouldn’t happen without the help that the build fund provides: “The fund is crucial to our success – it allows us to obtain high-quality parts and equipment from RS such as bearings and fasteners. This enables us to fully realise our design ambitions and concepts that would otherwise be financially impossible,” says Peter O’Flynn, a student and Formula Student team member from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

But we’ve not stopped there. To keep the wheels turning and the competition going we sponsor the competition – run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers – making sure the next generation of thinkers and builders have access to this golden opportunity.

The next generation

And that’s what our Grass Roots Education team is all about – creating opportunities for a new wave of engineers. They’re passionate about developing the students they meet and help.

“There’s a lot of value in engaging those young people who are closer to starting their careers in engineering: students and young engineers,” explains Director Youth Community Amy Muncer. “These young people are the next generation of customers, suppliers and employees, and it’s up to us to give them the opportunity to innovate: to use their knowledge to create solutions that shape the world for the better.

“We all have a passion for empowering and championing other people that are doing amazing things. Society often puts young people down for not having knowledge or expertise but our team is good at turning that assumption on its head and proving the opposite.”

But far from being alone in their efforts to reach the younger generations, the Grass Roots Education team has backing from the entire business. It’s written into our goals: to engage with 1.5 million engineers and innovators in creating socially responsible and sustainable solutions. That’s an ambition worth going after.