Judging the AI engineers of tomorrow at Formula Student

When I was asked to judge the artificial intelligence (AI) side of Formula Student this year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But not only did I enjoy digging deep into my technology and e-mobility knowledge, I was blown away by the skill and talent of the students I was there to judge.

Formula Student is a major educational engineering competition and has been running since 1998. The aim is to develop young engineers and encourage them and others towards a career in engineering. I was fortunate enough to be part of last year’s online event as well, but attending 2022’s event in the flesh was a real privilege.

All I knew about being on the AI team was that there was a special set of rules for that area. The students needed to present us with a new autonomous transport solution. This was perfect for me as someone who’s extremely interested in e-mobility, smart cities, and autonomous vehicles.

The object of the presentations was to evaluate teams’ abilities to deliver a strong business case, and there was a roleplay element to the challenge as the students had to passionately sell us – judges pretending to be investors – their ideas. Each group’s chosen AI system was for a new autonomous driving system operating at SAE level 4 in a city centre environment, moving people from the outskirts into the heart of a city via defined routes.

We saw presentations on buses, taxis, trucks, and more. The range kept things interesting and it was great to see some innovative ideas from students passionate about the future of mobility.

The Formula Student business presentations are tricky because students have to consider everything: technology, development timeline, costs, manufacturing, and resources — all presented to us in just 10 minutes. It was fascinating.

It was a real pleasure to meet the engineers of the future and share some of my knowledge of the autonomous vehicle world. Everyone I met at Formula Student was incredibly welcoming, too, and I’d like to extend my gratitude to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, FS organisers, and my fellow judges.

The AI judging team also got to spend some time enjoying the Bentleys in the paddock.

If you’d like to find out more about Formula Student, check out the IMechE website.