February was a productive month for the whole team at Hanze Racing Division. The development of our Electric Formula Student car moved forward, the team has been busy with technical progress, creative work, events, and building new partnerships. The month was full of learning, teamwork and motivation to reach more.
The biggest event, which we should highlight is the Open Day at Hanze University of Applied Sciences on February 14th. During this event, we had the opportunity to represent the team and show what we do to prospective students. At our stand, visitors could try our car simulator and talk with team members about engineering, motorsport, and the Formula Student competition.
It was amazing to meet so many students who were curious about how the team works and how the race car is building and designing. That day was a perfect opportunity to share our passion for engineering and motorsport with others.
Another unforgettable experience this month was the workshop on “Fibreglass composite manufacturing,” organized by Professor Matthew McDonald at Hanze University. During this workshop, team members had the chance to deepen their understanding of composite materials such as carbon fiber and fiberglass and had hands on manufacturing experience.
These materials are extremely important in Formula Student cars because they offer a very high strength-to-weight ratio, which is essential for bodywork and aerodynamic components. Such experiences help us improve the quality of our designs and develop new technical knowledge that can be applied directly to the car.
February was also a month of new partnerships. We started a partnership with Primaned. Primaned is a project controls consultancy that optimizes large-scale projects through expert scheduling, risk management, and data-driven insights. They provided HARD with access to Oracle’s Primavera Cloud project management software and training at their Rotterdam office.The team had also a meeting with ICD Drachten, which will support the development of our car in next months.
It’s important to mention that in February, our Design Team has been working hard to prepare materials that represent the team during every event. For the Open Day, they created a new banner and poster, which made our stand more visible for visitors.
Moving to the technical side, the Mechanical Engineering Team has made good progress. During February, the team organized individual progress meetings with each subteam. These meetings were important for setting deadlines and making sure that each subsystem stays on schedule. A good example of the progress is the pedal box, which will be started manufacturing next week. Moving from the design stage into manufacturing means that the concepts developed over the past few months are becoming real parts!
The Electrical Engineering Team also made significant progress. The team made the first pcbs and finalized the first version of the dashboard software, making an important step in the development process.
Of course, progress wasn’t the only important thing. The atmosphere in the team has also been very positive. There were plenty of long evenings in the workshop, solving problems together and discussing new ideas. And a lot of coffee helped us get through the brainstorming sessions
Overall, February has been a month full of progress for our team. From technical development and workshops to events and new partnerships, the team continues to move further each month. The design of several subsystems is almost finished, and we will soon start manufacturing key components. The next months will be even more exciting as the car slowly starts to come together!