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Applications are open for Electric Superbike Twente 6.0!

Do you want to work on the next generation of racing?

A well functioning student team requires people of all disciplines. For optimal efficiency, everyone has a role within the team. These roles are divided into the subteams described below. Electric Superbike Twente 6.0 is looking for people who want to join the Marketing and External Relations team but also for people who like to plan events and know their share about finance! Do you want to sign up, or do you just want to express your interest in joining the team? Attend one of the events listed on the left or fill in the completely non-commital application form below and we will get back to you soon!

Management

The management facilitates the work of all the other subteams. This involves subjects such as team spirit, communication, planning and contact with external parties. The key task is to steer the team away from any potential pitfalls. The management has the biggest variety in tasks and also carries responsibility for the end result of the team. (management is fulltime only)

Team manager

The Team Manager is the all-rounder of the team. The key objective is to have an oversight of the entire team and its progress. You balance the interests of team members, partners and other parties. Together with the other managers, you make the planning and steer the team in the right direction. You are also the team’s contact for the outside world, which means that you will come in contact with the press and partners. As a team manager, you keep looking ahead and always keep the bigger picture in mind.

Technical manager

As a technical manager it is your task to combine the various disciplines within the technical team and facilitate everything that is necessary to ensure that the team reaches its goals throughout the year. You will be responsible for the technical development of the motorbike. For this you have to create a comfortable and safe environment in which the engineers of both the Chassis and Powertrain sub-team can communicate well and where the engineers can work together in the best way possible.

Communication manager

As communications manager you are responsible for the acquisition, finance, marketing and events. In short, all the contact to the external world. To do this, you have the help of your communications team, splitted in the functions ‘External affairs’ and ‘Marketing & Events’. Your task is to manage this team and to help them where they need this. This makes your function very varied. One day you’re calling potential partners, the other day you’re organizing a big event. The most important thing in your function is to oversee what needs to be done to arrange the communication to the outside world in a smooth, attractive and professional way. Therefore, planning and creativity is key.

Finance

A small business like a student team needs a good administration, so the finance has to be in order. You manage the budgets and oversee the major cash flow in the team.

Communication

While the technical teams are working hard on the superbike, there is another part of the team that mostly focuses on the contact to the outside world. This is the communication team. This subteam tells our story to companies and other interested parties.

Events

Electric Superbike Twente organizes several events throughout the year. You are responsible for making sure these events go as planned. Examples of yearly events are: technical presentation, superbike reveal, partner day, new team days. However you are encouraged to come up with new exciting events during the year!

Marketing

You are working on sharing our mission with the world! As part of the marketing team, you manage the image of our team on- and offline. This includes promotional material, like flyers, posters and banners, but also graphic design for the superbike, social media and merchandise. In addition to that, we also have a website which has to be updated very regularly.

External relations

As a student team we have some great partners which allow us to do wonderful things like building this bike. You are responsible for keeping in touch with and expanding our portfolio of partners.

Powertrain

The powertrain sub-team is responsible for the delivery of a lot of brute power to the superbike’s rear wheel. Many of the electronic systems on our bikes have been developed by our own engineers to fit our requirements, and are unique. As a powertrain member, your days will be filled with a large variety of tasks and you will specialize and be responsible for specific aspects of the superbike. You can read about the different functions in the team in the following sections.

Powertrain members of the previous year’s originate from various studies; Electrical Engineering, Technical Computer Science, Creative Technology, Advanced Technology. What is most important when applying for the powertrain sub-team, is that you have an affinity with electronics, and can add to the team in one of the bike’s powertrain aspects.

Chief powertrain

As chief powertrain, you are responsible for the whole electronics department. You make sure the right people are working on the right things at the right time, and are involved in crucial decisions regarding the electronics of the superbikes. You are the powertrain contact point, and communicate with management, the chassis sub-team and partners to make sure the engineers can work as efficiently as possible. It is recommended that you have a basic knowledge of electrical engineering, programming, and control in order to understand and communicate with the engineers.

Powertrain engineer

The powertrain engineers of Electric Superbike Twente make the superbike come to life. They make sure the electrochemical energy stored in the battery results in a spinning rear wheel. The engineers build and orchestrate the brains of the bike, together with the many onboard safety features. To do so, a mix of practical and theoretical skills come in handy: electrical engineering, systems and control, programming (C/C++ in specific) and data analysis. As a powertrain engineer, you will work on many different challenges, varying in both magnitude and difficulty. There are however several aspects that come back every year, and to get an idea about these, you can read through the following sections.

Software

Many components on the superbike need programming in order to function as designed, and communicate with each other. Examples are: the Battery Management System, custom ECU, and the CAN nodes. Engineering the software requires you to have a broad overview of all the electrical systems on the superbike to allow it to deliver maximum power. Another topic of interest is wireless communication, using telemetry, sending data to the pitbox. The programming is mainly done in C/C++ through embedded systems, and overall programming skills are recommended as powertrain engineer.

Motor controller

In our current superbikes, we use standard motor controllers. The electromotors, however, are fully custom and manufactured together with one of our partners. This means that depending on the type of motor and control approach, the tuning processes are very different. Therefore a suitable motor controller must be selected based on the motor characteristics, together with the specifications of the battery pack. It takes a lot of testing on the dynamometer in order to get most power out of the motor controller in combination with the motor and the battery pack, without losing sight of efficiency. Another challenge is integrating the design of the inverter with the complete superbike, which saves a lot of space and weight. This will require a lot of cooperation with the other (chassis) engineers.

Data acquisition

All the data that has been collected by the powertrain team (battery temperature, power consumption, cooling data, etc. etc.) is valuable in the process of improving the superbikes. This data must be gathered, stored and analyzed to learn about an increase the performance of the bike.

Battery pack

In order to guarantee optimum performance and safety, the behavior and state of the battery cells must be monitored and managed at all times. To do so, a combination of crucial hardware and software must be developed or purchased. During the design of a new battery pack, many design options must be considered and calculated to end up with a battery pack that is most suited for this high performance application. Examples of design choices are: cell type, module configuration, connectors, cable thickness, method of connection and operating voltage.

Chassis

The chassis subteam is responsible for all the mechanical components in the superbikes, both static and dynamic. This includes structural parts like the mainframe and swingarm, but also moving components e.g. the electric motor, transmission and wheels. These components come together to form the backbone of a motorcycle, housing all the powertrain components and allowing the immense forces produced by the motor to be safely transferred to the track surface, resulting in the high-speed action EST is known for.

Chief chassis

As the Chief of this subteam you are responsible for the short- and midterm planning and ensuring that tasks are done on time. You are the person that has the overview of the all projects undertaken within Chassis. You can help the engineers with their problems or connect them with others within the team to solve the issue and take up some projects yourself. Some knowledge on systems engineering and mechanical engineering are welcome to keep the projects running smooth. Also, the chief is the spokesperson for the subteam. They communicate and discuss with the Powertrain Chief and the Technical Manager to ensure good collaboration within the entire team.

Chassis engineer

As a chassis Engineer of Electric Superbike Twente, you are responsible for designing parts of a superbike that requires decisions regarding to cost, space and weight, but also more practical applications like part and material availability. Knowledge and experience in CAD-software like SolidWorks, mathematical programs like MATLAB and Python and practical mechanical experience are strongly recommended for a position within the chassis subteam. In order to efficiently design and build a cutting-edge electric superbike, strong communication both within and outside of your subteam is a necessity. Of course, a superbike consists of various disciplines within the mechanical domain, and not everyone can work on the same components. Below are some of the main topics that are important when designing a new electric superbike.

Structural engineering

Structural engineering creates the foundation of the superbike, the parts where all the other components are connected to. This includes the main frame, subframe and swingarm of the bike, but also how some of the other components like cooling, electronics and other components are mounted. Designing structural parts requires strong communication with all other members of the technical team, since all components have to fit together to create a unified superbike.

Electromechanical engineering

Electromechanical engineering forms the main overlap between the powertrain and chassis subteams. Components such as the electric motor and battery require knowledge and experience from both electric and mechanical topics and need to be tuned accordingly. Also included is ensuring both riders and engineers are able to safely operate on the bikes.

Fluid and thermal engineering

Fluid and thermal engineering consists of the cooling and aerodynamics of the superbikes, ensuring the efficiency is as high as possible at all times. At the speeds the motorcycle is designed for, every bit of drag reduction is useful. Furthermore, designing a proper cooling system guarantees the temperature dependent components remain in their most efficient operating range and do not overheat during a race.

Drivetrain engineering

Drivetrain engineering is all about the feel of the bike on track, ensuring the rider is able to go as quickly as possible. The projects of a drivetrain engineer vary from designing a transmission and finding the optimal gear ratios for maximum efficiency and acceleration, but also dynamic components such as shock absorbers and anti-squat in order to keep the bike controllable even at extremely high speed.

Application form

Note: We can only accept students from the University of Twente or Saxion Hogeschool Enschede!