NOVEMBER 20, 2006

A fuel cell kart

Imperial College in London is a famous place for F1 engineers to learn their trade. The list of famous alumni includes Cosworth founder Keith Duckworth, plus such wellknown names as Frank Dernie (now at Williams), Tino Belli, Nick Tombazis, Egbahl Hamidy, Seamus Mullarkey, John Davies and a collection of younger aerodynamicists who are climbing through the ranks at the moment.

The engineering department at Imperial is currently embarked on a programme which could produce some famous names in the future, particularly as F1 is turning towards more environmentally friendly ideas. The new project is to build a zero emissions fuel cell hybrid racing kart. There are already 20 undergraduates working on the project which they hope to demonstrate at the Formula Student event at Silverstone in July next year.

The longer term ambition is to establish a zero emissions racing series within the Formula Student competition in 2008.