Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering have created a racing car called ‘Kiloflight Alpha’ in the form of a formula car. The ‘Kiloflight Alpha’ car took part in the online event of the Formula Student UK competition.
64 countries of the world including Bangladesh took part in the two live and online events of this competition. The Kuwaiti students have brought the country to the world stage by participating in the competition by making the car after three years of effort. Teachers and students of the university are looking at the possibility of taking the jute industry to new heights as various important parts including the body of the car are made of environmentally friendly jute.
Besides, the members of Team Kiloflight are going to make driverless cars this time. However, if the necessary funding is provided by the government or the university, the cars made by the students of Kuwait will create a stir in the world.
Amlan Biswas, a second-year student in Mechanical Engineering in KUET and a Kiloflight drive train expert, said the car was targeted at Formula Student UK. The specialty of this car is that it is made with full body jute fiber, which will keep the tradition of the country. It has high quality engine, gears, brakes, meters. There are safety measures for the driver. The car can run at a speed of 162 kilometers per hour.
“I took part in the Formula Student UK competition after the car was made,” he said. Formula Student UK is an engineering racing competition for students. Because of Corona they have divided the competition into two parts. One is a live event and the other is an online event. Due to Corona Red Zone, European countries have participated in live events and other countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan have participated in online events.
“We are 33rd out of 64 countries in the world,” Amlan said. We are the only one from Bangladesh to take part in this competition. This is a great achievement for us. I am working towards the target of the championship next year. I hope I can make the countrymen proud. I will work for the development of cars in Bangladesh. To build our cars with this goal.
He said there are plans to innovate new cars every year.
Erfan Islam, captain of the Kiloflight team, said: Which is an initiative to take Bangladesh ahead in automobiles and create skilled engineers. The car is made of eco-friendly jute. Its body is made of Arrow Jute Fiber Composite.”
Head Professor of Mechanical Engineering in KUET. Md. Sahidul Islam said, they made the car with environmentally friendly material. It is said to be eco-friendly because it is made from jute composite. Because of Corona, we were unable to use KUET’s lab. They have completed the project in groups of 5 to 6 people. There is a lot of research going on in the developed world about this type of project.
Sahidul Islam said, ‘This project has been done with its own and former students’ funding. They could have done better if they had got government funding. The government is cooperating in all matters and I hope to provide funds in this regard as well. ‘
