Tour of UQ Engineering

Students Marcus Ibsen and Nick Tan eagerly joined Mrs Leslie and Mr O’Brien recently, on an insightful trip to the University of Queensland. Here, Kydra Walden, our 2018 College Captain and now first-year engineering student, provided us with an opportunity to explore the creative spaces and engineering labs that UQ has to offer.

Recently, the Somerset Alumni Association began a partnership with UQ Racing; a student-led racing initiative at UQ, whereby students studying various degrees at the university collaborate to design and realise two working Formula SAE cars each year.

Like every other year, UQ Racing invites the team and other special guests to the launch of their two new cars. We were lucky enough to take part in this event and see first-hand the remarkable work that these students were able to produce. As an engineering student, I am constantly reminded of the importance of iterative design in developing a well-performing product. These cars are a testimony to that idea, with years of iteration and knowledge being implemented and improved upon to create a race-specific car that will outperform its predecessor.

Through chatting with students at the event and learning about the work these students have been able to produce, I feel inspired by their dedication to the project and passion for engineering. It is hard to imagine that a group of students would be able to build a car from the ground up, let alone two, but they did just that. By problem solving and experimenting with new ideas, designs were tested and continued to be tested until a solution was found. Ultimately, one electric vehicle (EV) and one internal combustion (IC) vehicle was unveiled at the event. We were able to walk up and inspect the workings of these impressive machines in which captivated my already invested interest in engineering. I am sure Mrs Leslie will testify it was hard to get Nick and me to leave, but I value the friendly discussions and new insight I gained from this experience.

I would like to thank Mrs Leslie and Mr O’Brien for allowing Nick and I to join them, and Kydra for inviting us to the event. The Alumni Association’s partnership of such a venture provided the opportunity for this truly incredible experience.

I wish the UQ Racing team good luck in their upcoming competition.