The 10th edition of India’s Largest Vehicle Manufacturing Competition, organised by Hyderabad-based Fraternity of Mechanical and Automotive Engineers (FMAE) and co – presented by Kumaraguru Institutions is underway at Kari Motor Race Track in Chettipalayam, Coimbatore.

In this edition, there are about 60+ registrations from various colleges and institutions across the country including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and northern States. The competition has 4 categories - Formula Student (FSS India), FMAE Moto Student, Formula Kart Design Challenge (FKDC), and the Bharat Solar Vehicle Challenge (BSVC). 

This year a special emphasis has been made on Electric Mobility and sustainable transportation solutions in this national level competition. All the vehicles that are used in this event are built by the participants from the scratch. They have to create the car as per the rules stated in the rulebook of the competition and they will be subjected to extreme scrutiny. They are prohibited from using any technical professional to build their vehicles.

"What we (FMAE) are doing here today is mostly turning the theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. We are helping students come up with practical projects and compete with nation-wide teams from reputed institutions, giving them and opportunities to engage with professionals coming from top automotive industries," Adithya Rao, Director, FMAE said.

This on-ground competition is the culmination of 7+ months of meticulous preparation, creativity and hardwork from the participants' side. They have come against several real-world automotive engineering challenges and successfully developed the vehicles by themselves. 

Giving due attention to sustainability and the fact that the Industry and government is focusing on Electric mobility, FMAE has encouraged participants to come up with EV in all 4 categories. The organizers said that they are witnessing an increase in EVs in the competition. FMAE Moto Student category alone has 6 teams using EVs out of the 9 teams competing.

Adithya Rao said that communities like FMAE are turning the way the Industry is looking forward, and sustainablety is actually something they are focusing more.

"Through this national level event, we have received an opportunity to interact with several other competitors and peers from different institutions and exchange ideas and knowledge. That, and building our own vehicles, facing real challenges and devising solutions & strategies make it really exciting," participants from Kumaraguru Institutions added.