Divvy Kant Upadhyay, Manipal
Manipal, Sep 6: The Formula craze doesn’t look likely to die down eventhough officially, the Government of India may not be interested to consider it as a sport. If Force India’s first F1 points had excited the nation last week, the University town of Manipal was abuzz with excitement as students at Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) officially launched their indigenously built Formula Race Car – Formula Manipal – second year in a row!
Infact this year they have already taken part in the prestigious Formula Student Race held at Silverstone in UK in mid July. 126 Universities from 23 countries, some of them backed by reputed professional engineering consultants took part in the race. The Formula Manipal team of 32 students was led by a 3rd year MIT student, Rachit Mathur under the guidance of Faculty advisor Dr K Jagannath. The Manipal team finished 65th in the overall rankings which saw another team from India – the IIT Delhi at the 68th rank.
According to a press release from the Manipal University (MU), of the 126 universities, 82 made the cut after initial scrutiny by the judges. The evaluation was based on seven parameters- cost analysis, presentation, design, acceleration, skid pad, sprint and endurance. The competition is all about excellence in engineering and the students are challenged to design, build, develop, market and compete as a team.Two drivers were to do 11 laps each to evaluate its race worthiness.
The students were excited as the entire top brass of MU, including Chancellor Dr Ramdas M Pai were present at the official launch on Saturday. MU and the Bangalore based Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) had also promoted the first team last year that had a successful run at the Ferrari racetrack in Maranello, Italy. HOD of Mechanical Engg at MIT, Dr NY Sharma feels that a project like this gives rarely found, unparalled experience to the students, helping them to hone managerial skills. The team has already started work on their next car - FM-X (2010) For those interested in further details, log onto – www.formulamanipal.com
Photo Caption - Members of the Formula Manipal with Manipal University Chancellor, Dr Ramdas M Pai, Pro Chancellor Dr HS Ballal, MIT Director Brig Somnath Mishra.