ATL is pleased to announce that it is to support the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' Formula Student Event in 2013, by becoming a Gold Sponsor.
ATL's Managing Director and Head of Design are both alumni of the Formula Student competition, having competed annually between 2003 and 2007. Over the years, several other members of staff with Formula Student experience have worked in design, production, sales and management roles at ATL.
ATL therefore appreciates and values the discipline and skill-sets which Formula Student helps to engender and sees involvement with Formula Student as an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the 'engineers of tomorrow'.
Connecting with students will be beneficial, as competitors are likely to be future customers, suppliers or perhaps even employees of ATL - whether this is within motorsport, aerospace, defence, marine or any other engineering sector with which ATL is involved.
Jon Hilton, Chairman of Formula Student, remarked: "Formula Student is delighted to welcome ATL Ltd as a Gold Sponsor. This is a testing ground for some of the most talented young engineers in the world, and it is great to have the support of such a prestigious fuel system engineering company."
FORMULA STUDENT 2013
Taking place at Silverstone between 4-7 July, the annual four-day event continues to grow in popularity and stature, celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2013.
Although a UK-based event, of the 141 entrants, 88 teams are from overseas universities, and a total of 32 countries will be represented - making this a truly international competition.
The Formula Student challenge is to design, build and race a single-seater racing car. Teams are judged on a combination of dynamic activities, such as straight-line speed acceleration, handling, time trial and static activities, which include design, costing, sustainability, and business presentation. All these elements and interests must be balanced and must simulate a genuine business case, incorporating negotiation, case preparation and marketing.
INTRODUCING ATL
One of ATL's goals in sponsoring Formula Student is to make students aware of who ATL is and what ATL does, before they enter the world of work.
Students who have previously been involved with motorsport may already be aware of ATL, and know that it has proudly supplied safety fuel cells to every F1 team for almost 20 years. Less well-known is the prevalence of ATL's non-fuel containment bladders (drinking water, oil, chemicals) and the dominance of ATL's sophisticated internal plumbing systems, which regularly deliver victories within sportscar racing and rallying.
While customers purchase such systems because they offer users a competitive edge, at its core, ATL's primary focus is on supplying a safety product: safety should not be the preserve of racers with big budgets. For this reason, ATL manufactures a range of standard-size 'Saver Cells' which, despite meeting FIA FT3-1999 regulations, are low-cost (priced in hundreds - not thousands - of pounds), highly durable, easy to maintain and available on very short lead-times.
As students graduate and take jobs with racing car manufacturers and teams, ATL wants them to be aware that a major safety upgrade can be achieved for only a very modest financial outlay.
While many Formula Student competitors will clearly aspire to pursue a career in the motorsport industry, many students will forge career paths in other advanced manufacturing industries and will work on vehicles which operate in non-racing environments: submarines, boats, armoured military vehicles, aircraft (manned and un-manned) and even spacecraft/satellites are all places where ATL's liquid containment solutions and fluid handling systems can be designed to deliver competitive advantage.
SUPPORTING FORMULA STUDENT TEAMS
ATL supplies several Formula Student teams with fuel system spares, such as filler necks, hosing and pumps. Some teams even use a complete ATL fuel bladder, using materials which would normally be used for aerospace applications rather than motorsport. This serves to demonstrate how ATL's involvement in so many diverse engineering sectors encourages technology transfer to take place between different markets - in this instance delivering a significant reduction in mass.
Formula Student is a great opportunity for students to gain some experience of fuel bladder and fuel system design - a specialist area of car design not traditionally covered by undergraduate curricula.
AT THE EVENT
:: Giles Dawson, Managing Director of ATL Ltd will be commentating live from Formula Student on Radio Silverstone (87.7 FM).
:: ATL will also be Tweeting Live from the event - follow @ATLFuelCells for updates.
:: ATL will have a small Exhibition Stand in Event Control over the four days of the event - providing an opportunity for students to meet ATL staff and to familiarise themselves with some of ATL's products.
NEW ATL LTD WEBSITE
ATL's new website will be live from Monday morning (17 June 2013) - please visit www.ATLLTD.com .
IMechE Formula Student
Taking place at Silverstone between 4-7 July, the annual four-day event continues to grow in popularity and stature, celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2013.
University of Hertfordshire Car at MIRA Test Day
Although a UK-based event, of the 141 entrants, 88 teams are from overseas universities, and a total of 32 Countries will be represented - making this a truly international competition.
University of Birmingham Racing (UBRacing) Fuel Cell
UBRacing has used an ATL fuel cell over several generations of car.
Super-lightweight and featuring an internal trapdoor collector and high-pressure pump, the cell is supplied as a 'plug-and-play' package.
Formula Student is a great opportunity for students to gain some experience of fuel bladder and fuel system design - a specialist area of car design not traditionally covered by undergraduate curricula.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
ABOUT ATL
Aero Tec Laboratories (ATL) Limited manufactures composite bladder devices and fluid transfer systems for racing cars, aircraft, space craft, defence vehicles, submersibles, marine craft and industry. ATL's fuel cells are crash-resistant, explosion-suppressant and extremely lightweight, thereby offering the customer performance gains alongside major safety improvements. ATL's flexible fluid containment bladder tanks are suitable for holding fuel, water, oil, chemicals, waste material, powder and gasses and can be supplied with highly sophisticated liquid transfer plumbing & equipment.
Aero Tec Laboratories (ATL) was founded in 1970, as a design and testing facility for "flexible composite" materials. Shortly thereafter, the firm broadened its scope to include the actual fabrication of end products from its own outstanding fibre/elastomer composites. This led to the development of ATL's remarkable bladder-type cells, which deform under high-energy impacts.
From ambitious beginnings in engineered inflatables and crashworthy fuel cell bladders, ATL has further spread its technologies into compensators, accumulators, potable water vessels, self-healing ballistic tanks, bulk storage bladders and scores of similar endeavours. The common thread among ATL's products is the remarkable toughness and durability coupled with extreme light-weight, high flexibility and compactness.
With ATL's ongoing development into high performance fabrics and complete fuel system products, ATL remains the World's leader in Fuel Cell Design and Technology, and is a supplier to every Formula One team.
Please explore our website for more information about ATL's many products - www.atlltd.com.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Press Enquiries
Adam Pointer,
Aero Tec Laboratories Ltd,
One Patriot Drive,
Rooksley, Milton Keynes
MK13 8PU, UK.
Email: apointer@atlltd.com
Tel: +44 (0)1908 351700
Fax: +44 (0)1908 351750
High resolution images are available on request - please contact Adam Pointer (above).
[Press release distributed by CDWrite on behalf of Aero Tec Laboratories (ATL). To unsubscribe from all CDWrite email lists, please reply with "STOP" as the subject line]
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Topics: Formula Student
