“Vroom…Vroom Vroom…” In addition to being busy with sport teams, book clubs, part-time jobs, school clubs, and struggling for credits, college students have the dream to race their own race cars on the world stage. The NCKU Formula Racing Team held a race car launch in the afternoon of July 28, displaying a streamlined blue and black second-generation race car - CK02, and introducing its design concept and features, attracting crowds to see the car's stunning style. Taiwan University, Tsinghua University, Taipei University of Technology, and other College Formula Racing Teams also attended the event to listen to the introduction and congratulate and support the team.

President of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Su, Hui-zhen, Dean of the College of Engineering Li, Wei-xian, Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Yang, Tian-xiang and the team unveiled the second generation CK02 race car, which took 11 months to design and complete. Qiao, Guan-wei, team leader of the NCKU Formula Racing Team, said that the design of the second-generation CK02 race car is black and blue, which is an extension of the first-generation Pioneer's black base color design, representing the concept of pure energy of electric vehicles. At the same time, the team also optimized the electric race car's cornering stability, battery endurance and light-weight from the body, chassis, and electric power aspects.

NCKU Formula Racing Team Launches Second-Generation Race Car - CK02

The cancellation of the 2020 Formula SAE (FSAE), the largest international racing event for engineering students, due to the COVID-19 outbreak has been a major setback for the team. "We've been waiting," the team said, "to get that feeling of a car racing down the track. So, we still made the car. Every year we will build a new car instead of modifying the previous generation, so that we can pass on the practical experience to the next generation". President Su also encouraged the students to "continue to make countless possibilities out of mechanical engineering, to see different skies across different areas."

Qiao, Guan-wei said that the team's strength lies in finding the motivation to learn. The team was initially founded by college students who were confused about the future, but later they really made a racing car and even competed overseas. During this process, the team members discovered the joy of applying knowledge in practice and proved that they have the ability to fulfill their dreams.

NCKU Formula Racing Team held the 2020 NCKU Formula Race Car Launch

From 3 people in the beginning to nearly 50 people now, the team has gone through changes and integration such as the merger of 2 school racing teams, technology integration, and continuous recruitment, and now the team is almost like a small company. Qiao believes it is the sense of responsibility that makes the team run smoothly. At present, the team is composed of a team leader, assistant team leader, chassis team, electrical power team, bodywork team and commercial team, with juniors and seniors as team officers leading freshmen and sophomores to carry out team tasks, with each person having their own task in charge, with meticulous division of work and clear objectives, creating the concept that the team is a second family. Under the leadership of juniors and seniors, “the experience can be passed on and the passion can be continued.”

The cost of building an electric race car is more than one million dollars, of which about 80 percent is raised by the team itself, and some university teams have said that finding sponsors is the most difficult task. However, Qiao mentioned that the team has fully felt the generosity and enthusiasm from all walks of life towards the NCKU Formula Racing Team. "Many of our alumni supported the idea without saying a word when they heard that we were going to form a racing team," said Qiao, which is a very fortunate thing for the the team.

From 3 to 50 people, the NCKU Formula Racing Team continues to pass on the racing dream.

The NCKU Formula Racing Team was founded in 2018, and in 2019, the team went to Japan to participate in the FSAE international race, and achieved an outstanding result in the first time competing in a static category of the competition. The team is a student-run multidisciplinary team with members from engineering, design, electrical and mechanical integration, and business. Members from different departments and colleges joined the team to apply their professional knowledge to the production, and to find ways to solve the problems they encountered. The team is grateful for the support from teachers, alumni, and sponsors, which has made the team what it is today. These experiences and emotions will be passed on from year to year, and we will continue to accumulate the strengths that will propel NCKU Formula Racing Team racing into the world.

(Edited/Photos by Liu, Zi-you, Images by NCKU Formula Racing Team)