The connection between industry and university becomes truly tangible when knowledge leaves the classroom, enters the factory floor and is transformed into real-world solutions. This is what happened through the partnership between ETMA and FSUMinho, the Formula Student team representing the University of Minho, which is currently developing its first fully electric prototype.
More than technical support in the manufacture of components and the welding of the chassis, this partnership has become a hands-on learning opportunity for the students, enabling them to follow industrial processes, receive specialised technical feedback and bring academic development closer to the real demands of the metalworking industry. For ETMA, it is also a way to contribute to talent development, strengthening the connection between the industrial sector and future generations of engineers.
FROM UNIVERSITY TO THE TRACK
FSUMinho was founded in 2021 with the aim of representing the University of Minho in Formula Student, an international university competition in which student teams conceive, design and build an automotive prototype.
For the Minho-based team, the journey began with ambition, but also with the natural challenges of a recently established structure. In 2023, FSUMinho attempted to build its first prototype, but did not yet have the necessary conditions to complete the project in full. As Nuno Costa, Team Leader, recalls, “we had neither the facilities nor the support required” to bring the project to completion from start to finish.
The response involved a major restructuring process. During the 2024/2025 season, the team reorganised itself, strengthened its technical and management areas, and grew from around 15 members to approximately 72 students from different degree programmes. This diversity has become one of the project’s strengths, bringing together skills in mechanical engineering, electronics and other areas essential to the development of a competitive prototype.
“We are a project that needs to ensure continuity,” explains Nuno Costa, highlighting the importance of knowledge transfer between more experienced members and newer members of the team. Today, while some students are working on the current prototype, others are already preparing the foundations for the next development cycle.
AN ELECTRIC PROTOTYPE, DEVELOPED AND BUILT IN THE MINHO REGION
Since its foundation, FSUMinho has set itself the goal of developing a fully electric prototype, aligned with the evolution of the automotive sector and with the context of the competition in Portugal. This is also a project with particular regional significance, as it is the first prototype of its kind to be fully developed and built in the Minho region, resulting from the academic talent of the University of Minho and the collaboration with partner organisations from the industrial sector.
In Formula Student, teams can compete in different classes. Class 2 allows teams to take part with virtual prototypes, with skills such as engineering, design, dimensioning, resource management and financial management being assessed. Class 1, on the other hand, involves physical prototypes, which are subject to dynamic events such as acceleration, skidpad and endurance, where performance must be balanced with factors such as energy efficiency and safety.
For FSUMinho, reaching the physical prototype stage is a milestone. The project reflects the ability to transform academic knowledge into applied engineering, with technical decisions that have a direct impact on the vehicle’s behaviour, safety and reliability.
ETMA’S SUPPORT IN A CRITICAL COMPONENT: THE CHASSIS
The first contact with ETMA came through the recommendation of a professor at the University of Minho, who was already familiar with the company through visits connected to the field of mechanics. The team met with ETMA in person, presented its needs and, from the outset, found a clear willingness to collaborate. “We were welcomed with open arms,” recalls Nuno Costa, highlighting the availability shown in response to the technical challenges that FSUMinho brought to the table.
The partnership between ETMA and FSUMinho therefore began in 2024, with support in the welding of components for the first chassis. Later, due to changes in the regulations, the team had to review the design and work once again on this fundamental structure.
In this new phase, the collaboration was reinforced. ETMA supported the team not only in welding operations, but also in the manufacture of components associated with the chassis, involving processes such as roll bending, laser cutting and press brake bending. This was a particularly relevant contribution to a critical area of the prototype: the structure that supports the different systems and ensures the driver’s safety.
Nuno Costa is clear about the importance of this support: “We may have all the electronics ready, but if we do not have our chassis, our structural part, properly built, we cannot achieve the performance we are aiming for.”
The chassis therefore has a dual role. On the one hand, it is the structural basis of the prototype. On the other, it is a determining element for safety and for the correct assembly of the vehicle’s various systems, including mechanical and electronic components and the high-voltage battery.
WHEN INDUSTRY HELPS SOLVE THE UNEXPECTED
One of the most demanding moments in the collaboration occurred when FSUMinho identified the need to change an aspect of the design at an already advanced stage of the project. The modification was complex and involved working directly on the chassis.
According to Nuno Costa, it was necessary to “cut the chassis almost in half and weld it back together properly”, a sensitive operation requiring precision, dimensional control and technical capability. ETMA’s support was decisive in enabling the team to correct the issue and continue its path towards the technical inspections.
“Without ETMA’s help, we would probably have gone to the competition with the prototype and failed the technical inspections,” says the Team Leader. These inspections are an essential stage before any dynamic event, assessing whether the vehicle complies with the safety requirements set out in the regulations, from the mechanical components to the electronic systems and the high-voltage battery.
ETMA’s contribution therefore made it possible to reduce risk, correct a critical limitation and strengthen the team’s confidence in one of the most sensitive areas of the prototype.
LEARNING FROM INDUSTRY TO DESIGN BETTER
For the students, the partnership with ETMA brought a dimension that is difficult to achieve in an exclusively academic context: the possibility of following real industrial processes.
As the University does not allow the team to carry out certain welding processes internally, direct contact with ETMA became a hands-on learning opportunity. FSUMinho members were able to follow the work closely, observe methodologies, understand manufacturing constraints and see how dimensional accuracy is ensured in complex structures.
“We have the opportunity to get to know the reality of industry and the different types of processes,” says Nuno Costa. For the team, this contact is a major added value, as it allows technical feedback to be translated into future design improvements.
Among the skills developed, particular emphasis is placed on sizing, technical drawing, understanding the effects of welding on final dimensions, and the importance of positioning fixtures, such as jigs, to ensure geometric accuracy. These are lessons that help students design parts that are better suited to manufacturing reality, without compromising performance.
“The degree programme is the fundamental basis, but it is this opportunity for feedback and practice that allows us to learn a little more,” emphasises Nuno Costa. “And that also sets us apart when we enter the labour market.”
A PARTNERSHIP THAT GOES BEYOND SPONSORSHIP
FSUMinho currently has around 60 partner organisations, including institutions and industrial companies. But for Nuno Costa, the right word is not merely sponsorship.
“What I always like to say is that this is a partnership, not a sponsorship,” he says. “Our goal is to build a prototype, but it is also to train the future generations who will enter the labour market.”
This vision clearly reflects the value of proximity between university and industry. Companies help make the project possible, but they also contribute to the students’ technical, professional and personal development. At the same time, students are brought closer to the business environment, gaining insight into processes, teams, methodologies and requirements that will be decisive when they enter the labour market.
For ETMA, supporting FSUMinho means actively participating in this ecosystem of applied knowledge. It means placing industrial experience at the service of a demanding academic project, helping young talent transform ideas into concrete solutions.
RESULTS THAT PAVE THE WAY FOR THE FUTURE
FSUMinho’s progress is already reflected in the results achieved. Last season, while still competing in Class 2 with a virtual prototype, the team secured 3rd place in the overall ranking, 2nd place in one of the static events, and won the Cost & Manufacturing event, where aspects such as resource management, costs, manufacturing processes and environmental impact are assessed.
Sustainability has also been gaining increasing relevance within the project. This year, the team tested a new approach to producing the bodywork moulds, using 3D printing. Unlike MDF moulds, which required more manufacturing time and could not be reused in the same way, the printed moulds can be shredded and converted back into filament, reducing waste and speeding up the process.
“It went well, so this is an implementation we will be adopting from now on in the team’s future prototypes,” explains Nuno Costa.
Even so, the team has adopted a design philosophy focused on simplicity for this first physical prototype. The priority is to consolidate knowledge, validate solutions and create a solid foundation for future developments, including the ambition to develop technologies associated with autonomous driving in a future cycle.
The competition calendar reinforces the importance of this stage for FSUMinho. The first competition with the physical prototype is scheduled to take place from 19 to 24 July in Castelo Branco, followed by participation in Germany from 11 to 16 August — a particularly relevant milestone, as it will mark the team’s first international appearance.
After competing last season in Class 2, with a virtual prototype, FSUMinho is now preparing to take to the track the result of a demanding journey of development, learning and collaboration with industrial partners.
ENGINEERING WITH REGIONAL IMPACT
The partnership between ETMA and FSUMinho demonstrates how the connection between industrial companies and academic projects can generate value on several levels. For the university team, it represents access to technical knowledge, production capacity, specialised guidance and direct contact with industrial reality. For ETMA, it is an opportunity to support emerging talent, contribute to regional innovation and reinforce its role as a technical partner capable of supporting demanding projects.
Ultimately, this collaboration shows that engineering is built not only on knowledge, but also on proximity. With those who design, those who manufacture, those who teach and those who learn.
And it is precisely at this intersection between academia and industry that projects capable of going further are born. For FSUMinho, going further means taking to the track an electric prototype developed by students. For ETMA, it means continuing to apply its industrial know-how where it can make a difference: from project to product, but also from training to the future.
ETMA wishes FSUMinho every success. May this prototype take to the track not only engineering, but also the talent, dedication and ambition of a new generation.