5 April 2010

Don & Low join the DRIVE team

University of Dundee students who have developed their own Formula-style racing car have been given the backing of local industrial textiles company Don & Low.

The student DRIVE team - Dundee University Race Innovation and Vehicle Engineering - are taking part in the Formula Student competition, run by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, which challenges students to design and build a Formula-style racing car.

They will now be supplied with Don & Low’s specialised Armordon® self reinforcing polypropylene (srPP) material which the team will use for a variety of parts on their race car. Armordon® is a composite material with high impact strength and low density which makes it an ideal material to be used in motor sport and automobile industries. It is 100% recyclable and with no glass reinforcement, there are considerable advantages in both processing and machining.

Alan Wightman, Development Manager for woven fabrics at Don & Low, said 'We are delighted to support our nearest centre of academic excellence. Being involved with the DRIVE team represents a good opportunity to get the Armordon brand known to the new generation of mechanical engineers. It has the potential to introduce Armordon into end uses where it does not currently participate. This can be a mutually very beneficial relationship.'

The DRIVE team is based around students in Mechanical Engineering. They have been involved with the Formula Student competition for three years and raced their car in the full competition at Silverstone for the first time in 2009.

'It is a real boost to have Don & Low helping us develop the car to a better level than ever,' said team leader Michael Poller. 'We are really aiming to build on our success last year, where we raced for the first time and came a highly respectable 40th out of the 82 teams who competed, many of them operating on a far greater budget than we have.

'For us to improve our car design and performance we really rely on things like support from the local business community. We have had fantastic support already from them, and adding Don & Low to our team is another major step forward.

'Aside from working on the car, it is also great experience for us as students to get this level of involvement with really prominent businesses like Don & Low.'

The students will be heading back to Silverstone in July to test their mettle once again.

For more on the DRIVE team’s activities and Formula Student see: www.drive.dundee.ac.uk/.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Don & Low:
Established in 1792, Don & Low are manufacturers of Woven and Nonwoven polypropylene industrial textiles. Don & Low’s international success has been established over the last two hundred years based on an outstanding reputation for advancing standards and developing technology.

As a market leader in the manufacture of industrial textiles this reputation is the foundation on which the Company is committed to developing its future success. The last two centuries have seen tremendous changes within the textile industry. Adapting to change has become a way of life within Don & Low.

Their extensive range of products is sold internationally. Their key markets are Europe and North America with over 45% of sales going for export.

With opportunities in ballistics and blast containment, passenger luggage, construction and automotive, Armordon® can be developed to suit an extensive range of product markets.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07852 953277