Powerhouse Museum puts UOW race car on display

Dec 23, 2005

The University of Wollongong's world champion racing car will be on display at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum for the next 12 months.

The car, which was designed, built and driven by students from UOW's Faculty of Engineering, in 2003 won the international Formula SAE championship at Detroit.

Formula SAE is a competition between universities conducted by the Society of Automotive Engineers with support from the world's biggest car manufacturers, who see it as an ideal way to encourage young engineers and give them experience in a highly competitive environment.

The University of Wollongong has been Australia's most successful participant in Formula SAE competition. Its victory in the United States in May 2003 was the first by a non-American team and capped off a remarkable run of success by UOW Racing teams.

Since building its first car in 2001 the team has competed in eight campaigns - five in Australasia and three in the United States. It has won four times - three in Australasia (2001, 2002 and 2004) and the 2003 event in Detroit against 130 competitors.

Earlier in December the team finished third overall in the 2005 Australasian title in Werribee against 24 other teams.

In October UOW Racing won its category in the 2005 Engineering Excellence Awards for NSW - prompting the Powerhouse Museum to invite it to exhibit the 2003 world title-winning car in an Engineering display at the museum for the next 12 months.

“Having the car on display at the Powerhouse Museum is a really exciting opportunity for everyone involved in the team, and a real feather in the University's cap,” said Faculty of Engineering Honorary Principal Fellow Dr Bob Wheway.

“It's a great tribute to the students and staff who have been involved in the race car team over the years. Winning the Engineering Excellence award was fantastic recognition for the Faculty of Engineering as a whole - and this just caps it off.”

For more information, contact Dr Bob Wheway on 42287398.