Formula One competition a driver for success, says NMMU student

Luyolo Mkentane WEEKEND POST REPORTER mkentanel@avusa.co.za

THERE is no rest for a Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University student who recently returned from an international competition in Germany, as he is now bent on recruiting fellow students to be part of what he calls an “amazing project”.

Hiten Parmar, 26, from Walmer, who is doing his masters degree in electrical engineering, returned last month from the University of Applied Science Braunschweig/Wolfenbütel in Wolfsburg, Germany, where he took part in the 2008 Formula Student Germany International Design Competition.

The competition, held in Hockenheimring in August, is focused on promoting careers and excellence in engineering by challenging university students, as a team, to design, build and market a single-seat Formula One car.

Parmar, a member of team WOB which spent four months in Germany, from July to October, said he went there to further research his masters project and also “to get first-hand experience of the whole Formula student project”.

Facilitated by the NMMU-based DAAD International Chair in Automotive Engineering, Parmar‘s trip to Germany arose after he had worked with German exchange student Lars Fiolka, who came to NMMU earlier this year to build a Formula One car as part of his post-graduate studies.

A member of Motorsport South Africa, Parmar said that through Fiolka “I was able to get first-hand information with regards to my masters project and the background to what my project will have to cater for”.

“Through working with him and by his sharing his previous experiences in the Formula student (project), my interest in this project grew,” added Parmar, who has always had a passion for cars.

It was a “great opportunity to work with specialised automotive equipment as well as being exposed to the knowledge of an international Formula student team”, said Parmar, whose practical projects have always been automotive-based, from a digital rev counter to fuel injection controllers.

He said that after his return there had been great support within the engineering departments at NMMU and he hoped the remaining departments would follow suit “to encourage students to be part of this project”.

“We are still busy recruiting more students to be part of this amazing project. I personally feel we have excellent resources available which will prove to be a good grounding for the future of this project ... because tomorrow‘s auto engineers are today‘s Formula student competitors.”

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