Letter Regarding NUS FSAE sucess

First of all, congratulations to the team behind Centennial V. The team of 16 NUS students are the most sucessful team since NUS started participating in the FSAE competition, held yearly in Michigan. They managed a reputable 19th position out of 119 entries and also emerged as the top entry from Asia.

While the Nus FSAE team might have a history of 8 years, their first chance to race came only in 2004. Prior to that, a lack of funding restricted the team from participating in the yearly race. Since their first race, the team has improved with each race. It is not an easy feat for the students behind the car. Each year, the team builds a new car. The parts used in their car other than the engine are not commercially sourced but rather designed and built by the students themselves. As mentioned by Prof Seah in an interview given in 2005, the reason behind it was to allow the students to fully understand the mechanisms of the car.

The car was built at an estimated cost of a hundred thousand dollars. Although it cost more than an average saloon car in Singapore, let us not forget the amount of technology that went behind it. The team produced their own paddle-type gear shifter, often found only in cars with racing pedigree. It took team member Mazher Anwar four months to develope and perfect the design. The paddle gear shifter allows the driver to keep his hands on the steering wheel while changing gears, which happen within a hundred milliseconds.

The journey has not been all smooth sailing. When the team initially started our, the faced many problems. A lack of race car engineering resulted in a slow start. When their design was finalized, there was no place for them to test it as it was not road legal. Only with determination and passion, the team laboured on and eventually achieved results.

Once again, I would like to commend the team for their effect in the FSAE competition and may the team achieve even better results in the next competition.