Virtual tech seminars for student racing teams

The content of the exclusive seminars was specially adapted to the needs and requests of the respective teams. Through these seminars, the student developers received support from proven experts from Würth Elektronik to help with selected technology areas.

"True to our motto ‘WE speed up the future’, we promote technology partnerships, which also include our three exclusive teams in Formula Student - Greenteam Uni Stuttgart e. V., KA RaceIng e. V., HHN Racing e. V. - and Team Sonnenwagen Aachen e.V.. Our primary aim here is to support the racing teams with our services in their developments in the field of eMobility from the very beginning and to familiarise them with our product portfolio at an early stage," explained Marion Wagner, Strategy & Coordination Manager for Group Technology Partnerships eMotorsports of the Würth Elektronik Group.

"Intensive support in the development phase is important here, so that errors, for example in the area of electromagnetic compatibility, can be avoided in advance. Our specialists are available to the teams at all times with advice and support to drive the project forward together."

Virtual in the innovation centre

Ingenuity is required during these times, so the first intensive seminar, initially planned as a face-to-face event for the end of October 2020, was moved to a virtual space. Spontaneously, the Research & Innovation Centre of the Reinhold-Würth-Hochschule in Künzelsau was used to meet with the developers of the Sonnenwagen Aachen team via video conference. S

onnenwagen Aachen has already developed two solar-powered vehicles and participates annually in international competitions such as the European Solar Challenge in Belgium, and the World Solar Challenge in Australia. Twelve developers received exclusive training on surge, burst and ESD protection, EMC with design tips and filter circuits, SMD ferrites, EMC and efficiency optimisation of high-power DC/DC converters, common mode chokes and industrial radio standards.

In this way, the latest technology trends are incorporated into the development or challenges in the electronics design of the Sonnenwagen Aachen and can be discussed directly with the experts from Würth Elektronik.

Individual program

In mid-December, Würth Elektronik then held an intensive seminar for the Formula Student team Greenteam Uni Stuttgart, and another one for the KA-RaceIng team of KIT Karlsruhe. The topics ranged from EMC-compliant design of AC/DC converters, to Bluetooth Low Energy and LAN transceivers. The technical contents were supplemented by a module on the topic of new product development in the field of New Mobility - from the original idea to market maturity.

The career tips section of the program gave the audience an understanding of the process and content of a successful job interview, as well as entry-level opportunities in the company. After positive feedback, the University Marketing Team of Würth Elektronik eiSos then organised another seminar, in which all other Formula Student teams supported by Würth Elektronik in Germany could participate. 

Here, the number of participants was larger and the audience had the opportunity to choose between topics presented simultaneously in various virtual rooms. The seminar series was a complete success and has aroused interest for further joint seminars.