QUT Motorsport launches into the 2009 season
Rain may have stopped some showoff wheel spinning but the brand new student-built Mazda 5 SAE was soaking up the limelight as the centrepiece of the QUT Motorsport season launch this week.
QUT Journalism student, Ash Miller, 22, explained QUT Motorsport students create a brand new open wheel formula SAE race car each year to race in national competition.
“As a team we build a racecar each year, designing it all from scratch, putting it together both in-house and using outside resourcing,” Mr Miller said.
Mr Miller joined the team at the start of 2008 after seeing the QUT Motorsport display at the Brisbane Motor Show.
He took up the role of lead driver and he is also the editor of the QUT Motorsport publication, ‘On Track’.
“To drive the car is a bit of a perk and in order to drive the car I had to contribute somewhere else and that’s where the journalism side came into things,” he said.
“I have a passion for journalism and a passion for motorsport so putting the two together was ideal.”
The interdisciplinary team is composed of students from a wide range of study backgrounds including engineering, Information technology, business and creative industries.
“We’ve got our business side of things with sponsorship, finance, publications, and PR, then we’ve designed and built the mechanical engineering and electrical engineering elements using both computers and by hand,” Mr Miller said.
“Our photographer is a landscape architect so anyone who wants to be involved can jump in and have a crack at it if they’re passionate about motorsport.”
Mr Miller said the 2009 QUT Motorsport showcase was a great professional opportunity for him as both a journalism student and a motorsport driver.
“Putting to the face of potential sponsors and future employers that we do get students who go straight into real world jobs and who use QUT Motorsport as a direct springboard for their career is very rewarding,” he said.
Not one to miss a media opportunity, Mr Miller said the recruitment process is one of the realistic elements always on the agenda, with graduating students often leaving holes in the team.
“It doesn’t matter what degree you’re doing, there’s a niche in the team for everybody,” he said.
“We’re always looking for anyone with a passion for motorsport – if they want to get hands on with it at the university then QUT Motorsport is definitely the thing to go for.”
Find out more about the QUT Motorsport team here: http://www.qutmotorsport.com/
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