Formula Student is an engineering competition held annually in several countries. Student teams from around the world design, build, test, and race a small-scale formula style racing car. The cars are judged on a few criteria. There are dynamics and statics events. Each one measures the characteristics of the vehicle such as endurance, cost or engineering design, inter alia.
This project, in addition to improving our engineering skills above the content learnt in the lectures, also helps us gain soft skills, such as time and resource management, public speaking and teamwork. Furthermore, it helps creating professional opportunities for the students.
The team currently has four cars: IFS01 (combustion), IFS02 , IFS03 and IFS04 (electric). We are now progressing in the development of electric cars with the new model, the IFS05, whose aim is to improve on the performance achieved by our previous car.
ISEL Formula Student was founded in 2013. Initially it was made up of just 7 members, but it has been growing.
We currently have around 50 students taking part in the project, from all ISEL courses.
In 2013-2014 the team began designing the IFS01 car. It is a combustion vehicle whose main features are its lightness, safety and simplicity. In 2014, the team took part in the Silverstone competition in class 2, project class, where they finished in third place.
In 2014-2015, began the process of manufacturing the IFS01, which competed in Barcelona. In that same competition the vehicle was highlighted as the best car among the teams with only one year.
The 2015-2016 season was the time to improve the IFS01 vehicle with the IFS01 EVO project
With ambition ever present, in 2016-2017 the team started a new project, the IFS02, the team's first electric vehicle. The team took part in the competition in the Czech Republic in 2017 with the IFS01 evo, with a better performance.
In 2017-2018, the team competed in Barcelona with the IFS02 prototype and in the 2018-2019 season, with the vehicle already manufactured, the team took part in the Formula Student competition in Germany.
The 2019-2020 season was atypical, with the team competing in Formula Student UK, in class 2, finishing 4th in the Business competition with the IFS03 prototype vehicle.
During the 2020-2021 season, it was not possible to hold competitions due to COVID-19. The team continued to carry out all the tasks necessary to perform well in the future.
In the 2021-2022 season, the team again took part in the Formula Student Spain competition in Barcelona with IFS03.
In 2022-2023 the team competed for the first time, with its IFS03 car, in the FS Austria competition at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg and in FS Portugal at the Kartódromo de Castelo Branco.
In 2023-2024, the team has developed its third electric vehicle, doing it in a year, the IFS04, and went once again go to the FS Spain and FS Portugal competitions, presenting the IFS04 to the public with a rollout.
During the 2024-2025 season, the team once again competed in FS Spain and FS Portugal with the IFS05 car, which passed scrutineering, highlighting the performance achieved and the team's continuous evolution.
This season 2025-2026, the team has started to develop its fifth electric vehicle, the IFS06, applying the experience acquired from the previos models to create a car with more performance and reliability.
Martim Jorge
Team Leader
Max Kalapun
Project Manager
Pedro Mendes
Project Manager
Tiago Sousa
Head of Operations
Nuno Fonseca
Vehicle Integration
Tiago Duarte
Chassis
Miguel Alves
Driverless
Guilherme Pires
Dynamics
João Gonçalves
Eletronics & Software
Francisco Prieto
Eletronics & Software
João Gonçalves
TD
Francisco Prieto
TD
Rafael Hipólito
Website
Eduardo Neves
Wiring
Henrique Nascimento
Member
Lourenço Fernandes
Member
Pedro Cruz
Member
Guilherme Pires
TD
Martim Barradas
Aerodynamics
Martim Almeida
Aerodynamics
Samuel Pereira
Aerodynamics
Beatriz Marques
Cooling
Francisco Marques
Cooling
Gabriel Barata
Drivetrain
Rodrigo Almeida
Member
Rodrigo Almeida
Member
Miguel Peres
Member
Diogo Vasconcelos
Member
Alexandre Baeta
Vehicle Model
Marta Gonçalves
Vehicle Model
Miguel Alves
TD
Gabriel Mano
Control
Tomás Silva
Integration Plan
Bráulio Silva
SLAM
Tiago Andrade
SLAM
Tiago Sousa
Head of Operations
Francisco A. Mendes
Designer
Manuel Nunes
Logistics and Finances
Pedro Costa
Sponsors
Rafaela Carvalho
Business Plan Development
Lígia Neves
Marketing
Joana Natal
Marketing
Tiago Duarte
TD
Afonso Simão
Rookie
Henrique Gonçalves
Rookie
Ines Silva
Rookie
Maria Correia
Rookie
Pedro Garcia
Member
Gonçalo Martins
Member
Francisco Caetano
Member
Nuno Fonseca
TD
Derek Ryan
Member
João Moura
Member
Luan Reis
Member
Miguel Courelas
Member
Miguel Mendes
Member
Beatriz Nobre
Member
Gonçalo Batista
Member
Gonçalo Carioca
Member
Ricardo Gracioso
Member
Diogo Costa
pedalboard
Duarte Mendes
TD
Afonso Jesus
Member
David Pereira
Member
Diogo Nunes
Member
Filipe Mira
Member
Guilherme Bernardo
Member
Mateus Antunes
Member
Ricardo Pessoa
Member
João Vieira
aa
Manuel Fernandes
aa
Rodrigo Matias
aa
Team Leader
Head of Operations
Marketing
Sponsors
Logistics
Project Manager
Project Manager
Vehicle Integration
Chassis
Driverless
Dynamics
Eletronics & Software
Eletronics & Software