UTFF (English)

We make formula racing cars from zero and aim for the championship in the Formula SAE Japan contest.

■Philosophy and Guiding Principles/History

The University of Tokyo Formula Factory (UTFF) is a team that build formula racing cars all by themselves while aiming for the championship in the Formula Student contest in September every year.

Through activities such as designing, planning, public relations, etc., members of UTFF acquire practical skills and knowledge that cannot be attained by simply learning in the classroom. We aim to cultivate prospective students that can contribute to society in the future.
For the last 20 years, engine cars have been made, but from this year, UTFF starts to create EV formula cars.
 

■Activities

UTFF aims for the championship in Formula SAE Japan, where about 90 teams from Japan compete with each other over the speed, endurance, and the design of their self-made formula cars. To prepare for the contest, members will attend activities at Building #8 of the Faculty of Engineering at the Hongo Campus, on weekends during normal times and almost every day right before the contest in September. Knowledge of mechanical engineering is necessary, so incoming students will receive lectures regarding subjects such as mechanics of materials from senior members. Senior members will be able to take part in teams that are in charge of different parts of the formula racing car, such as the frame, engine, and parts. Eventually, different teams will cooperate to finish the formula car.
 

※Regarding resuming face-to-face activities in 2023
・Most of the Works are done in Hongo campus.
・Meetings are done in online.
 

Number of Members
・Approximately 39 people

Year of Members
1st graders: 10
2nd graders：13
3rd graders：6
4th graders：6
graduate student：4
.

Year of Students that are in Charge of the Activities
・In general, 3rd-year students will be in charge of the activities.

Structure of the Organization
・Different groups are responsible for different parts of the car, and each group has a leader.

Gender Ratio
・Most of the members are male students.

Recruitment Period
・Throughout the year.
・Some students join after deciding which faculty to major, around September in 2nd grade

Attributes
・Many students in the natural sciences field participate in the making of the car, while students in the social sciences and humanities field take part in public relations, management, and presentation screening.

How many students leave the circle after one year?
Around 15%.

・UTFF’s activities are held on weekends during the semester at the Mechano Design Workshop inside the Faculty of Engineering Building #8 at the Hongo Campus.
・During summer and winter vacations UTFF has activities such as machine making and test runs almost every day.

April: recruitment, machine making
May~August: test runs (conduct trials to test the functions of the car on the racing tracks)
Early September: Formula SAE Japan contest
September~December: proposal and design for the next formula car(reflect on the contest result)
January~March: machine making

Selection/No Selection
・No Selection

Eligibility
・All Students

Actual Applicants
・Most of the students that enter the team are 1st-year to 3rd-year students.
・Those who are interested in F1 racing and machine making.

Procedure for Admission
・Contact UTFF through their email address for recruitment and consult with the member that is in charge of recruitment. If you decide to join, you will be invited to UTFF’s workspace on Slack. We also recruit in the same way outside the regular recruitment period.

○Pros

・Can experience welding and machining for free, which can hardly be experienced elsewhere.
・Several former members became professional F1 engineers who are still active now.
・Unlike automobile factories that only do part of the manufacturing, UTFF provides members with chances to get in touch with all processes of car making.

△Cons

・The making of racing cars with only students is difficult, and sometimes it takes a long time.
・In order to create one racing car, there are so many elements that you need to pay careful attention to and a variety of processes. In the beginning, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the complexity of making a car.

The detailed schedule is not decided yet.