A HELPING hand from Midlothian Nissan dealer Alex F Noble & Son made a big difference to the Edinburgh University Formula Student team in their efforts to attend this year’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ UK Formula Student competition held at Silverstone.
The dealership provided the team with a Nissan NV400 Van and a twin-axle car transporter trailer for the week of the competition which is held annually at the famous Northamptonshire racing circuit.
The Formula Student competition is organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the institution which also accredits the students’ degree. It is aimed at University engineering students and challenges student-led teams to design, build, test and present a working racing car in competition with over 130 teams from more than 30 countries.
Fahad Iqbal, the team’s Aerodynamics Leader for the academic year 2015/15, takes up the story.
He said: “We were on a very low budget to build our car for less than £3,000. This proved to be a big challenge as we were competing against teams with over fifteen years’ experience and six-figure budgets.
“We wanted to get our name out there and gain more recognition and support from our University and sponsors so I approached Colin Noble, a director of Alex F Noble & Son, as I had previously worked at the dealership on a workshop placement.
“Being a racing driver himself as well as a director of a major car dealership, Colin had great empathy both with our motivation to build a car and also with our desire to develop as mechanical engineers.
“Restricted by a low budget, we would have struggled to get to Silverstone without his company’s help and our team was honoured to arrive at the competition with our Nissan van and trailer carrying our race-car and tools.
“With the support from Alex F Noble Nissan, our team has gained valuable recognition for our engineering project”.
