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Bosch Formula Student Event in Boxberg

The next generation of engineers gains practical experience on the racetrack

  • Bosch experts are supervising 240 students
  • Warm-up for the final race in Hockenheim
  • Formula Student boosts career prospects
Cornelia Dürr

Cornelia Dürr

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Abstatt – Hustle, bustle, and frantic toiling and tinkering. The grounds of the Bosch test center in Boxberg were a hive of activity on July 5 and 6. Where conventional vehicles would normally be trialed, around 240 students were putting the Formula Student cars they had built through their paces. Across the large vehicle-dynamics area, numerous pylons marked out the various courses to be completed by the teams’ race cars. A large marquee was set up to serve as an improvised pit lane, where the student teams could be found industriously tinkering with their race cars.

Once again, Bosch sent out invitations to a two-day application and driving event to be held on the company’s own racing circuit, where the Formula Student teams would have the opportunity to practice for the competition’s crucial final race in Hockenheim. For the budding engineers, the weekend event is among the season’s most important preparations. “The two days here in Boxberg are worth a great deal to us. Here, we finally have the chance to put our vehicle through its paces after months of intense work. The interaction with Bosch experts, not to mention the support they provide, also helps us get to grips with the last few challenges before we get to Hockenheim,” explains Marc Hägele, project leader from the Einstein Motorsport Team Ulm.

This year, 24 teams from Germany and France participated across the three categories “Driverless”, “Combustion”, and “Electric”. They were mentored and supervised by around 40 specialists from the vehicle-engineering and system-design domains at Bosch, in addition to the company’s subsidiaries ETAS, Bosch Engineering, and ITK Engineering.

Dress rehearsal – testing under race conditions

For years now, the trials workshop at the test center in Boxberg has been a firm fixture on the calendar for student engineers. Bosch Engineering GmbH, a fully owned subsidiary of Bosch, was the organizer of the two-day event. This year, the 24 teams once again tested their cars, which were designed and developed in-house, under race conditions. The large area available enables all tests to be recreated exactly as they will be at the final race in Hockenheim: These include technical acceptance, “scrutineering”, and a variety of acceleration and endurance courses. With this annual event, Bosch assists the young Formula Student engineers with the development, design, and commissioning of their formula race cars. Furthermore, the most significant contribution made by Bosch is sponsorship in the form of hardware components, software, and expertise. Here, the students particularly benefit from the specialist knowledge of engineers, who are always close at hand with their valuable advice throughout the entire season. “The Formula Student competition is about much more than just building your own little race car. For the members of the various teams, the Formula Student project means passion, motivation, team spirit, and discipline above all else: all of these characteristics will be vital in their future careers alongside the required technical expertise. Here, the students not only get to showcase their engineering abilities, but rather a wide range of formidable skills,” Johannes-Jörg Rüger, Chairman of the Board, Bosch Engineering GmbH explains.

ETAS GmbH, a fully owned subsidiary of Bosch, has been the official main sponsor of Formula Student Germany in Hockenheim since 2012. This year – in collaboration with Bosch – ETAS is once again enabling the sponsored teams to participate in the trials and application event at Bosch’s test circuit in Boxberg. “The students have an exclusive opportunity to chalk up valuable test kilometers under racing conditions – and to fine-tune their vehicles one last time in advance of the racing event in Hockenheim. We support the teams with hardware and software solutions in application, not to mention with our technical prowess,” says Friedhelm Pickhard, President of ETAS GmbH.

Bosch subsidiary ITK Engineering was once again in attendance: Since the 2016/17 season, this development partner has been supporting Formula Student Teams from various universities and colleges. TUfast and DART – two of the teams sponsored by ITK in the categories “Driverless” and “Electric” – attended the two-day trials event in Boxberg to get their vehicles fully ready for the constructors’ competition in Hockenheim. “Throughout the duration of the season, we support ‘our’ Formula Student teams by placing around 10 of our colleagues at their disposal. We also cooperate with many different ITK facilities and specialist teams to provide the students with the greatest possible range of expertise surrounding vehicle dynamics, and software architecture and development,” explains Sven Wergandt, Program Manager Motorsport at ITK Engineering.

Talent development – fast-tracking the next generation of engineers

Since 2007, the Bosch Group has been the primary sponsor of Formula Student Germany. Every year, it provides support to hundreds of students from various international Formula Student teams – especially in the form of motorsport components, software, measurement technology, and technical expertise. Indeed, the budding young talents benefit from the expertise of the company’s own engineers throughout the course of numerous workshops and events related to technical topics. The students participate in the three categories “Combustion”, “Electric”, and “Driverless” in the Formula Student competition. Each team is obliged to compile a business plan, a cost estimation, and a manufacturing description before submitting these to the jury, while the development and design concept are also presented and judged.

Further Information:

Career at Bosch: www.bosch.de/karriere

Career at Bosch Engineering: https://bit.ly/2lHhYbJ

Career at ITK Engineering: www.itk-karriere.de

Formula Student Germany: www.formulastudent.de

About Bosch Engineering GmbH

Bosch Engineering GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH and is head-quartered in Abstatt, Germany. As a systems development partner to the automotive industry since 1999, the company with its more than 2,800 associates offers development services for powertrains, safety and convenience systems, and electrical and electronic systems – from the original concept to series production. Specialized in electronics and software, it draws on Bosch’s proven large-scale series production technology to develop tailored solutions for a wide variety of applications in passenger cars, commercial vehicles, off-highway and recreational vehicles, and in rail applications, ships, and industry. Bosch Engineering GmbH also coordinates all the Bosch Group’s motorsports activities.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch-engineering.com

Mobility Solutions is the largest Bosch Group business sector. In 2018, its sales came to 47.6 billion euros, or 61 percent of total group sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading automotive suppliers. The Mobility Solutions business sector pursues a vision of mobility that is accident-free. emissions-free, and fascinating, and combines the group’s expertise in the domains of automation, electrification, and connectivity. For its customers, the outcome is integrated mobility solutions. The business sector’s main areas of activity are injection technology and powertrain peripherals for internal-combustion engines, diverse solutions for powertrain electrification, vehicle safety systems, driver-assistance and automated functions, technology for user-friendly infotainment as well as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, repair-shop concepts, and technology and services for the automotive aftermarket. Bosch is synonymous with important automotive innovations, such as electronic engine management, the ESP anti-skid system, and common-rail diesel technology.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, twitter.com/BoschPress

About ITK Engineering

ITK Engineering GmbH was established in 1994 as “Ingenieurbüro für technische Kybernetik” and is an internationally operating technology company with customers in the automotive and aerospace industries as well as in building and medical technologies, motorsports, robotics and transportation. In addition to tailored technical consulting and development services, the company offers turn-key systems in the fields of software engineering, embedded systems, model-based design and testing as well as control systems design and signal processing. With a staff of 1,200 associates, ITK is headquartered in Rülzheim (Palatinate) and has nine branch offices in Germany. In addition, ITK is represented in the USA, in Japan, Spain and Austria. Worldwide, 1,300 associates are working for the engineering partner. Since 2017, ITK Engineering is a 100-percent subsidiary of the Robert Bosch GmbH.

ETAS GmbH

ETAS provides innovative solutions for the development of embedded systems for the automotive industry and other sectors of the embedded industry. As a systems provider, ETAS supplies a multifaceted portfolio that covers the range from integrated tools and tool solutions to engineering services, consulting, train¬ing, and support. Holistic IoT security solutions are offered via ETAS subsi¬diary ESCRYPT. Established in 1994, ETAS GmbH is a 100-percent subsidiary of the Bosch Group, with international subsidiaries and sales offices in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

Further information online at www.etas.com

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 429,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2023). The company generated sales of 91.6 billion euros in 2023. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. With its business activities, the company aims to use technology to help shape universal trends such as automation, electrification, digitalization, connectivity, and an orientation to sustainability. In this context, Bosch’s broad diversification across regions and industries strengthens its innovativeness and robustness. Bosch uses its proven expertise in sensor technology, software, and services to offer customers cross-domain solutions from a single source. It also applies its expertise in connectivity and artificial intelligence in order to develop and manufacture user-friendly, sustainable products. With technology that is “Invented for life,” Bosch wants to help improve quality of life and conserve natural resources. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. Bosch’s innovative strength is key to the company’s further development. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 90,000 associates in research and development, of which nearly 48,000 are software engineers.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com.

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