MUR Works from Home
With a lockdown in place since mid-March, the entire MUR team has been cooped up in their homes with limited resources to engineer a car but each subteam has tackled the challenge in their very own way. Spokespeople from Aerodynamics, Electric Powertrain, Chassis, Suspension and Steering teams share how they approached the lockdown head-on and developed their work from home routine.
Follow through to find out!
What innovative ways did your subteam come up with to stay on top of things and stay connected?
Luey Sun from the Electric Powertain subteam shone light on how working from home brings about its own benefits. He said “Working from home does open up more opportunities for online meetings, since we don't all have to be in the same place.” While all sub-teams arranged for weekly meetings, each of them used softwares of most comfort to them proving that the digital world has no bounds for creativity. Most teams conducted online meetings either through the online video chatting platform, Zoom or through the freeware instant messaging and VoIP application called Discord.
Griffan Wallish from the Aerodynamics team, in addition to Discord, mentioned using TeamViewer for working on simulations. The software application allows remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings, and file transfer between computers.
Senior in the MUR team, Justin Roth, adds that screen sharing was done during their weekly meetings via Discord.
What were some initial challenges you faced with working remotely?
How did you overcome these?
Joel Millar from the Suspension and Steering subteam pointed that the major challenge was “striking a balance in our lives”. He said this took some buffer considering the team had jobs, university, team deadlines, personal difficulties to battle amid a global pandemic that was raging outside.” “It was a lot to process, but it was important to have each other’s back. We had regular talks whenever we disconnected and shared a laugh, which I appreciate now looking back.” Nico Hernandez from the Chassis team shared how the lockdown mentally impacted the team’s performance, “Challenges were predominantly related to motivation and loss of in-person touch with teammates. It was difficult to overcome them but using Zoom we attempted to partially remedy this.”
The lockdown proved to be technically taxing as well with teams struggling to convey their ideas in a digital space, this was witnessed mainly by the Electric Powertrain subteam. Aerodynamics team lead Griffan says they struggled to do simulations “without being able to check with teammates on the process”. The seniors at MUR found it particularly arduous to “adjust the scope of the projects” as a lot of the drivetrain work which calls for testing and tuning could not have been carried out any longer. Despite the myriad obstacles members were faced with, teams found it extremely effective to share their screens while working or exchanging memes to have a laugh.
How do you think the motorsports and the automotive industry has adapted as a result?
Griffan and Luey echo similar worries regarding the current state of the industry with lack of physical testing being on top of their list. Luey says to this, “Model-based testing can only go so far, and reduced outdoor activity really hurts.”
Nico Hernandez is appreciative of the industry’s current capabilities, “I believe the industry and specifically motorsports has tried to maximize the level of output in terms of goals and initial pre-corona objectives while tackling the challenges as they came up and mitigating any obstacles as much as possible to maintain the highest operating level possible.”
Justin and Joel gave their opinion on how the future of the Motorsport industry will look like. Justin says “Digital twin technology might become more prevalent.” Joel gives out a cautionary warning to how the industry must operate in the immediate future, “It will be important for the industry to be adaptive to the changes that will come; to believe that things will go back to the way they were will be a mistake. It will be difficult for the automotive industry to recover in particular, due to the incoming social shift to online and away from driving and car ownership.”
What do you miss most about working in the garage?
Luey misses working hands-on to turn his “thoughts from sleepless nights into reality.” Justin is anticipating to soon get in touch with “chain grease and lockwire but mostly, the car.” Nico said, “I miss getting my hands dirty and sometimes working long hours with my teammates for a hard, yet promising and rewarding goal.” He went on to say, however, one aspect he doesn’t miss is the physical load that working in the garage would have on his body as he is still recovering from a leg injury. Joel said, “All my mates and Joey's tunes. That has been the worst part of this year, and I am sad that I won't get to experience building the car with these people.”
Have you witnessed any unexpected results come from a ‘work from home’ routine?
From a technical perspective, Luey highlighted that working virtually brought about “More simulation and data analysis which really helped solving issues on the car.” Joel said it was “The incredible level of fortitude and persistence that my mates have demonstrated to persevere through uncertain times. We could have given up long ago, but throughout this year we have designed an incredible car that will live on in future incarnations. And that makes me happy.”
The state of Victoria continues to be in a Stage 4 lockdown and members of Melbourne University Racing team are persistently abiding by the restriction rules whilst innovating ways to keep the team engaged and motivated. Determination and turning up during a time like this is definitely put to test which create a sense of complacency, says Nico. By sharing jokes and memes, the team is slowly getting by to make some progress. With the hope that things will soon turn to normalcy, we look forward to getting back in the garage soon!
