- 58 student teams from around the world to compete in the Formula Student Concept class designing a single-seater race car
Two teams of final-year Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering Design students from Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in Galway City have been accepted to compete in the 2026 Formula Student UK concept class.
They are the first students from ATU to enter the competition, which will take place at the prestigious Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in the UK in July. The concept class has fifty-eight entries from all over the world, including two other Irish universities.
ATU students will continue to develop an internal combustion vehicle concept, including engineering design justification, cost analysis, and business presentation, and present to a panel of industry experts from the motorsport and automotive sectors.
“IMechE Formula Student” is Europe's most established educational engineering competition and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023, tasking teams to design, build and race a single-seater race car. There are three classes in the competition, Formula Student, Formula Student concept class and Formula student AI. The concept class, in which the ATU students are competing, is designed to give students feedback on initial designs prior to building a full car for future competitions.
Backed by industry and high-profile engineers such as Ross Brawn OBE, the competition aims to develop enterprising and innovative young engineers and encourage more young people to take up a career in engineering, with over one hundred university teams taking part every year. The project usually forms part of a degree-level project and is viewed by the motorsport industry as the standard for engineering graduates to meet, transitioning them from university to the workplace.
The ATU Formula Student concept class project commenced as part of the Product & Service Development module in year four, where two cross-functional teams of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering Design students worked to create initial concepts and costing estimations for the 2026 competition. They submitted preliminary deliverables which granted them access to the competition.
The project proved challenging as it is ATU’s first time attempting the competition. The students designed concepts for the chassis, suspension, powertrain, and ergonomic layout in the first semester. Over 13 weeks, the students applied their engineering and product design principals to create the initial concepts for the competition in July. On completion of the module, one of the ATU teams, led by Veronica Creaven and Caoimhe DeBrún, decided to continue the teams’ work and display their concepts for the Internal Combustion entry at Silverstone in July 2026.
David Keary, ATU lecturer, said: “Being accepted into the Formula Student UK Concept Class is a great achievement for everyone involved. It reflects the hard work and commitment of the student teams, and it is exciting to have the chance to present their design concepts to industry professionals.
"The students’ hard work and perseverance have ensured future ATU students have a foundation to build from for the Formula Student competition. It is the milestone for our department and ATU and hopefully students from across the university will continue to grow this project in future years.”
Dr Oliver Mulryan, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering lecturer, said: “I would like to congratulate all students working on this project and thank TE Connectivity for their €5,000 sponsorship.”
