Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai launched a new club for students which is specialized in manufacturing the “Formula” racing cars which is based on the normal vehicles in processing these kinds of vehicles. Dr. Yousef Al-Assaf, president of Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai explained that the nucleus of this club is based on a joint cooperation between the institution and the “Das Auto” company which is specialized in this area. Dr. Yousef Al-Assaf confirmed that the company is concerned with the development of the normal vehicles and convert them to racing vehicles with special specifications and capabilities where he pointed out that the institution provided a workshop and research center at the institution for this purpose. He explained that the idea of creating this new club is coming from the mother university in New York where the students that want to graduate from the university should make many research works about manufacturing of high-quality race cars with standard and special specifications.
According to the manufacturing process, the students have to enter the race track in order to test these cars on an annual basis in terms of design, durability, safety and efficiency where the university organizes this event annually in the United States. Al-Assaf said that the Society of Automotive Engineers in America is responsible for organizing these races for students which is a non -profit organization and dealing with students to develop their abilities and experience in this important sector. For his part, the head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the university and specialist in the field of renewable energy and air conditioning who is Dr. Ghalib Kahwagi mentioned that there are 22 students enrolled in the club initially and they are about to start the manufacturing of first race car. He added that students will benefit greatly from the experience of collaborating company due to the availability of many experiences and factors for innovation and manufacture advanced racing cars which is an important tool to allow students to improve their skills and prepare them well for the market.
Dr. Ghalib Kahwagi specified the initial steps which precede the start of manufacturing racing cars process such as the development of its designs and identifying the required specifications in addition to the other regular vehicles which will be utilized for this purpose. He pointed out that the design of any racing car requires the presence of a university team which is composed of several specialties that interfere in its various aspects as there must be students from the departments of mechanical engineering, electrical, computer, management and marketing.
