Fulda Though technically complex and organisationally challenging, more than anything, the development of a vehicle means team work. This is experienced not only by the professional developers at EDAG Engineering GmbH in their day-to-day work, but also by the Formula Student teams, who plan, develop and construct their own racing cars, and then drive them in racing events. Every year, EDAG presents the "EDAG Integration Excellence Award" in recognition of the quality of the engineering competence employed by these students.
The Formula Student Team from the Technical University "Bergakademie Freiberg" took first place in the finals of EDAG's "Integration Excellence Award 2015" held in Fulda on 28th No-vember, 2015. In the contest against the other four finalists from the universities of Ravensburg, Stuttgart, Ulm und Karlsruhe, the young team from Saxony came out top, winning the first prize of € 3,000 EUR. 2nd place and a prize of € 2,000 went to the Formula Student Team "Global Formula Racing" from Ravensburg; and the KA-RaceING team (Karlsruhe) finished 3rd, taking a prize of € 1,000.
"The Formula Student competition calls for precisely those qualities which, as an engineering company, we need in our day-to-day project work. Developing, integrating and implementing technical concepts and innovations within prescribed time limits," expounded Michael Hog, EDAG's Head of Vehicle Integration. "This award is our way of rewarding the dedication of the teams who take part in the Formula Student in addition to their regular student commitments."
17 Formula Student teams applied for the EDAG Group award during the last few months. At the end, the best five teams were then invited to EDAG's Fulda branch, where they were asked to present their concepts and solutions to EDAG's multi-disciplinary jury. "We were particularly interested to see how the teams integrated their technical innovations and what advantages they generated for their vehicles in the process," explained Daniel Richter, Head of CAE and jury member.
"Apart from technical requirements, further assessment criteria taken into account by the jury were project management qualities and the professionalism of the contestants' presentations."
Each team had 45 minutes in which to convince the jury of their concept. Besides appearing before the judges, the teams also had the opportunity during their visit to the EDAG site in Fulda to talk to managers from all fields of vehicle development, and to hear at first hand more about the practical side of starting out on a new career from young graduate EDAG employees.
It was a very close contest, but in the end the jury's decision was clear: "More than any other team, it was the team from Freiburg that won us over with their outstanding integrative solutions. Their application was sharply formulated, interestingly written, and full of detail. Later, this impression was again reflected in their presentation," is how Michael Hog summed up the jury's decision.
All in all, the EDAG jury was deeply impressed by the level of performance of the five finalists. EDAG will be presenting the Integration Excellence Awards again next year, to give the Formula Student teams a training ground in which they can demonstrate their skills in networking technical developments and project management.