Formula Student Team of Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences
You are interested in technology? Do you want to be part of a young, dynamic team, or even lead it? Do you long to be able to apply the theoretical knowledge from your studies in practice? Then become a part of our team, travel with us across Europe and compete with students from all over the world at "Formula Student" competitions. From the first idea, to the construction, to the finished race car, you can get involved and put yourself into practice. We offer you the opportunity to take on responsibility in this unique project during your studies, to get in touch with sponsors and potential employers and to gain valuable experience for your future career.
Any student enrolled at H-BRS can join the team. We welcome members from all departments and semesters.
Mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, computer scientists and sustainable engineers are particularly in demand for the development of the race car. Since this also requires knowledge that goes beyond the studies, it is particularly suitable for first-year students to join the team.
Here you will first learn how to work with professional CAD/EDA programs and can integrate into the team right from the start. Later, you can apply your knowledge from your studies directly to practice.
By working with industry sponsors, you'll also get a taste of what it's like to work in the automotive industry and learn production-oriented design and development.
Technical journalists and business economists also have a place in our team, as our project involves much more than just race car development. We are always looking for support for our social media presence and print media as well as business plan, sponsor contact and club management.
Formula Student is an international engineering and design competition in which students from all over the world not only develop and manufacture a racing car within a year, but also market it. At the worldwide competitions, which take place in the summer, the students compete in various disciplines. In addition to 5 dynamic disciplines, in which the race cars are tested for their performance, the students also compete in three static disciplines. Here, a marketing concept, profitability and development are presented and defended in front of a jury of industry experts. Last summer, the BRS Motorsport e.V. team was able to compete very successfully against representatives of the world's most renowned universities at Formula Student competitions in the Netherlands, Hungary and at the Hockenheimring in Germany.
Everyday life at Formula Student is very varied. The team members are confronted with challenging engineering and project planning tasks and develop useful skills for their later professional life already during their studies. When BRS Motorsport is not racing its car at an international competition at the moment, the members are supervising their own projects. For students from the engineering field, these projects are usually development tasks. Here, a member works on a component from conception and development to production, commissioning and racing. In addition to development tasks, there are also other exciting tasks, for example, each member prepares a realistic business plan, which is presented to a qualified jury of experts from industry. The business plan is just one example of many tasks in a Formula Student team that are not directly related to the development of the race car. The team's activities are always accompanied and documented by the media. In addition, there are team members who deal with the business engineering aspects of the race cars. One task that usually occupies all team members is the production of the latest racing car, where everyone pitches in to complete the vehicle as early as possible and maximize testing time.
The challenge in Formula Student is to continuously push technical progress and at the same time establish a sustainable team structure with a constant fluctuation of members. Every year new motivated students of the first semester of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, business administration, technical journalism as well as those of sustainable engineering join the team to take over and expand the knowledge of the higher semesters before they graduate. The project participants work in company-like structures - which they have created themselves - and acquire state-of-the-art know-how independently or through internal training courses. The nearly 50 active team members experience the complete life cycle of a complex electric prototype within one season and, after the design and development phases, are also responsible for planning as well as production and assembly themselves. Together with a large alumni base and numerous sponsors, a new innovative race car is created every year that redefines the limits of what is possible and puts its predecessor in the shade.
Everyone is welcome here, whether a freshman or a master's student. Especially freshmen are taken "by the hand" and receive individual support with basic training in the first few months. The earlier you join the team, the more you can learn.
The project is not linked to a course of study. Each participant can contribute in areas of his or her interest. Especially in non-technical areas, such as marketing, sponsoring, media, we are always looking for support.
Each member is free to decide how much time he or she wants to spend on project work. In our experience, you can acquire much more knowledge through the practical work than only through the theory from the lectures. Furthermore, the close contact with older team members who have already successfully completed the exams helps with exam preparation or other questions about studying.
Team members have the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge from their studies directly in practice. In addition, the contents from the studies are supplemented in particular by practical experience. The team consists of students from all semesters, so an effective exchange on study contents, e.g. with members from higher semesters, is basically always possible. The university offers committed team members many different opportunities to have their work at BRS Motorsport credited to their studies in the form of ECTS. It is possible, for example, to have a documented development task for the race car credited as a project. There are several elective courses for students of the FB EMT, which deal specifically with contents from the Formula Student. In addition, it is possible to complete practical semesters and final theses with sponsors from industry.
The project is well known among potential employers and a participation in the Formula Student, which appears in the resume or is mentioned in the job interview, can open some doors for a committed team member. In addition to soft skills acquired during the project work, many skills for working on technical tasks are directly transferable from Formula Sutdent to the tasks in everyday working life. This is not necessarily the case for contents from the studies. Furthermore, you have the opportunity to establish contacts in the industry during your studies through the sponsors of the team.
Each team member decides for themselves how much of their time they are willing to put into working for the BRS. We expect our team members to work conscientiously and reliably on the tasks they take on. It does not matter how extensive these tasks are. Teamwork is only possible if you can rely on each other and on the work of others.
You can find more information about the individual working groups here (german):
