TU Delft, more specifically it’s student-community, has a long tradition of successful participation in student competitions. Many of these victories contribute greatly to the positive image of the university.
Examples of such victorious teams are the Nuon Solar team, the DUT racing team, Greenchoice Forze -Formula Zero team Delft and the Delta Lloyd solarboat team. These teams, and their often extra-curricular activities were formerly -rather confusingly- called ‘student projects’. To properly indicate these specific projects they are now referred to as Dreamteams. The name is derived from the location where most teams are housing, the D:Dream hall, situated at the Stevinweg behind the faculty of Civil Engineering. In this building the above-mentioned teams have their offices and workshops to design and constructs their cars and boats or other machines that they will compete with in the various international student competitions. The name of the building, D:Dream hall, is an acronym of Delft: Dream Realisation of Extremely Advanced Machines. sTUDelta takes a closer look at these Dreamteams by highlighting a few examples. What should you definitely know about the teams?
Greenchoice Forze – Formula Zero team DelftFormula Zero team Delft is one of the latest additions to the list of Dreamteams and was founded in 2007. The team constructs and races a hydrogen powered fuel cell kart in a competition called Formula Zero. Aim of the competition is to promote sustainable mobility. Six top university teams from all over the world compete in this championship by designing and building their own hydrogen racing vehicle. Greenchoice Forze is the Dutch entry. The team consist of approximately 40 team members from different faculties of TU Delft. Together they build a hydrogen powered kart. In august 2008 the world’s first hydrogen race in the world was held and it was won by the team of TU Delft. The ‘Zero’ in Formula Zero means zero emission. The hydrogen used by the team is generated using clean energy, so that the term zero-emission racing is justified. Pure water is the only exhaust product produced by the kart. The kart produces 8 kW of electric power. Through the use of regenerative braking a temporary boost power of 28 kW can be obtained. The power is distributed to separately controlled electric motors on the two rear wheels making sharp cornering possible. Besides racing and building the hydrogen kart the team is also concerned with organizing and attending fairs and venues to raise publicity for the team and sustainable mobility in general. A recent example of a venue where the team has been present is the AutoRai. Currently the team is building its second hydrogen racing vehicle, aiming to prolong its current title as world champion.
DUT Racing Formula Student racing teamThe DUT Racing Formula Student team is one of the oldest Dreamteams around, and certainly the largest team. The team was founded in the year 2000 by students. The team competes in the international Formula Student competition. On a global scale, over 400 teams are active in this racing class. The team’s cars are judged on both speed and performance as on design. Currently the team is building its ninth racing vehicle. The team has build up an impressive line-up of cars and achievements. One of the major issues that the Delft team is famous for is making lightweight vehicles. The DUT cars have the automotive equivalent of anorexia, albeit that in a racing vehicle this is a positive thing! Every unnecessary gram is removed in the design stage resulting in impressive figures. This lightweight design philosophy is known as ‘the Delft concept’. The current DUT car weighs approximately 158 kg. Many competing teams are struggling to build cars under 200 kg! Other recent innovations include the use of E85 bio-ethanol. In last year’s season the DUT Racing team managed to win the German Formula Student event! These and other results make that the team is ranked an impressive nr 5 position on the global Formula Student ranking.
Delta Lloyd Solar Boat teamNot all Dreamteams are building road going vehicles. The Delta Lloyd Solar Boat team aims to race and win the Frisian Solar challenge with their solar powered boat. The Frisian Solar challenge is a race for solarboats along a 200 km course in Friesland. It follows the same 200 km route as the famous ‘Elfstedentocht’ (Dutch for Eleven-city-tour), a skating tour held on nature ice. In 2006 the team competed for the first time which resulted in victory for the team. Two years later, with a new and improved boat the team competed for the second time, again resulting in a glorious victory. The solar boat uses eight square meters of gallium-arsenide solar cells. Combined with an efficient and lightweight hull, with an in-water depth of only 10 cm, the boat has a top speed of 26 km/h. Currently the team forming a new team to win the for the third consecutive time in 2010.
Nuon Solar teamOne of the older and certainly the most famous of the Dreamteams is the Nuon Solar Team. The team was founded by two students in the year 2000. When the team competed, under the name Alpha Centauri in 2001 no other Dutch entry had ever entered the competition before. Nevertheless the team won the World Solar challenge in Australia. Not only did the team manage to win the race, they also broke certain records such as the record for highest average speed, embarrassing many professional teams. The Nuna 1 as the solar car was named gave rise to four consecutive victories. Currently the Nuon Solar team is constructing the Nuna 5 with one clear aim: winning the World Solar Challenge in 2009. The race promises to be exciting as the competition is more determined than ever to try to defeat the infamous Delft Dreamteam!
De studievereniging schonk het beeld eind mei aan de faculteit. Maar de vergunning om het beeld buiten te plaatsen, liet nog op zich wachten. Het idee voor het beeld ontstond twee jaar geleden, tijdens het tiende lustrum van ‘Christiaan Huygens’. Meerdere kunstenaars maakten een afgietsel, ereleden van de vereniging kozen daarop dat van kunstenaar Martin Abspoel uit. Het bronzen beeld wordt nu nog ontsierd door een hekwerk. Als de laatste afwerkingen zijn gedaan, wordt het hek verwijderd.
Examples of such victorious teams are the Nuon Solar team, the DUT racing team, Greenchoice Forze -Formula Zero team Delft and the Delta Lloyd solarboat team. These teams, and their often extra-curricular activities were formerly -rather confusingly- called ‘student projects’. To properly indicate these specific projects they are now referred to as Dreamteams. The name is derived from the location where most teams are housing, the D:Dream hall, situated at the Stevinweg behind the faculty of Civil Engineering. In this building the above-mentioned teams have their offices and workshops to design and constructs their cars and boats or other machines that they will compete with in the various international student competitions. The name of the building, D:Dream hall, is an acronym of Delft: Dream Realisation of Extremely Advanced Machines. sTUDelta takes a closer look at these Dreamteams by highlighting a few examples. What should you definitely know about the teams?
Greenchoice Forze – Formula Zero team Delft
Formula Zero team Delft is one of the latest additions to the list of Dreamteams and was founded in 2007. The team constructs and races a hydrogen powered fuel cell kart in a competition called Formula Zero. Aim of the competition is to promote sustainable mobility. Six top university teams from all over the world compete in this championship by designing and building their own hydrogen racing vehicle. Greenchoice Forze is the Dutch entry. The team consist of approximately 40 team members from different faculties of TU Delft. Together they build a hydrogen powered kart. In august 2008 the world’s first hydrogen race in the world was held and it was won by the team of TU Delft. The ‘Zero’ in Formula Zero means zero emission. The hydrogen used by the team is generated using clean energy, so that the term zero-emission racing is justified. Pure water is the only exhaust product produced by the kart. The kart produces 8 kW of electric power. Through the use of regenerative braking a temporary boost power of 28 kW can be obtained. The power is distributed to separately controlled electric motors on the two rear wheels making sharp cornering possible. Besides racing and building the hydrogen kart the team is also concerned with organizing and attending fairs and venues to raise publicity for the team and sustainable mobility in general. A recent example of a venue where the team has been present is the AutoRai. Currently the team is building its second hydrogen racing vehicle, aiming to prolong its current title as world champion.
DUT Racing Formula Student racing team
The DUT Racing Formula Student team is one of the oldest Dreamteams around, and certainly the largest team. The team was founded in the year 2000 by students. The team competes in the international Formula Student competition. On a global scale, over 400 teams are active in this racing class. The team’s cars are judged on both speed and performance as on design. Currently the team is building its ninth racing vehicle. The team has build up an impressive line-up of cars and achievements. One of the major issues that the Delft team is famous for is making lightweight vehicles. The DUT cars have the automotive equivalent of anorexia, albeit that in a racing vehicle this is a positive thing! Every unnecessary gram is removed in the design stage resulting in impressive figures. This lightweight design philosophy is known as ‘the Delft concept’. The current DUT car weighs approximately 158 kg. Many competing teams are struggling to build cars under 200 kg! Other recent innovations include the use of E85 bio-ethanol. In last year’s season the DUT Racing team managed to win the German Formula Student event! These and other results make that the team is ranked an impressive nr 5 position on the global Formula Student ranking.
Delta Lloyd Solar Boat team
Not all Dreamteams are building road going vehicles. The Delta Lloyd Solar Boat team aims to race and win the Frisian Solar challenge with their solar powered boat. The Frisian Solar challenge is a race for solarboats along a 200 km course in Friesland. It follows the same 200 km route as the famous ‘Elfstedentocht’ (Dutch for Eleven-city-tour), a skating tour held on nature ice. In 2006 the team competed for the first time which resulted in victory for the team. Two years later, with a new and improved boat the team competed for the second time, again resulting in a glorious victory. The solar boat uses eight square meters of gallium-arsenide solar cells. Combined with an efficient and lightweight hull, with an in-water depth of only 10 cm, the boat has a top speed of 26 km/h. Currently the team forming a new team to win the for the third consecutive time in 2010.
Nuon Solar teamOne of the older and certainly the most famous of the Dreamteams is the Nuon Solar Team. The team was founded by two students in the year 2000. When the team competed, under the name Alpha Centauri in 2001 no other Dutch entry had ever entered the competition before. Nevertheless the team won the World Solar challenge in Australia. Not only did the team manage to win the race, they also broke certain records such as the record for highest average speed, embarrassing many professional teams. The Nuna 1 as the solar car was named gave rise to four consecutive victories. Currently the Nuon Solar team is constructing the Nuna 5 with one clear aim: winning the World Solar Challenge in 2009. The race promises to be exciting as the competition is more determined than ever to try to defeat the infamous Delft Dreamteam!
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