Third newsletter: Behind-the-scenes teams power ER26

Third Newsletter for the ER26 project

Welcome back to the third newsletter of the ER26 project! It´s past Christmas time and we have a late treat to you, a newsletter about our non-technical teams Marketing, Sponsorship and Internal systems. These teams act behind the scenes so the organisation gets seen and runs smoothly. Compared to our teams that develop the car and now you get to learn more about them!

Marketing

The Marketing Team is responsible for how the organisation is presented, both internally and externally. Through communication, branding, and events, the team helps show what the association does and why it matters.

The team consists of 8 people that work with different tasks, such as graphic design, social media, events, and merchandise. They make sure that LiU Formula Student has a clear and consistent presence across all platforms. A big part of their work is to explain the technical work in a way that is easy to understand and interesting to follow.

Marketing is important for the whole organisation. Good communication helps attract sponsors, engage students, and highlight the effort that all teams put into the project. The marketing team connects the technical work with the people who follow and support LiU Formula Student.

The team is also responsible for several major events. One of the biggest is the Roll Out, where the car and the new season are presented. They also plan internal events like the Christmas sitting and the cycling parties, which help strengthen the community within the association.

There is a close collaboration with the Sponsorship Team. Together, they make sure that partners are presented in a professional way and that collaborations are visible and valuable. This is important for building strong and long term relationships with sponsors. The team also works closely with the technical teams. By staying in contact with the engineers, they can share updates, milestones, and progress in a correct and honest way. This helps ensure that the story of the car reflects the real work behind it.

In the long term, the goal for marketing is to continue building and strengthening the LiU Formula Student brand and increasing the amount of engagement in our social media channels. By being clear, consistent, and active, the team aims to increase visibility and make the association attractive both inside and outside the university.

Sponsorship

The Sponsorship team consists of six members, each responsible for securing sponsors for one or more teams within the organisation. The work typically begins with an initial email where they introduce ourselves and propose a meeting, either digitally, in person, or through continued email contact. They primarily approach companies whose products or services align with our needs in the project, while also considering partnerships that offer mutual benefit. A key requirement for any sponsor is alignment with our ethical values.

When presenting LiU Formula Student, they highlight that we are a student-run organisation working together toward a common goal, to learn and perform well in competition at the end of the season. They are seeking long term partnerships where both parties benefit from the collaboration. Sponsors gain advertising opportunities and direct contact with students at Linköping University. Our sponsor portfolio is diverse, with a strong focus on technical companies providing essential products and services, complemented by non technical sponsors who are equally important.

Sponsors primarily support us through products and services that are crucial to completing the project. While teams have different budgets and needs, every sponsor plays an equally important role in making the project possible. The attractiveness to sponsors lies in the direct connection we offer to future engineers and economists through activities such as events, lunch lectures and company visits, as well as brand exposure on our website and on the car as it competes across Europe.

The Sponsorship team collaborates with all teams by securing sponsorships that support their progress and maintain close communication with the technical teams to address challenges. Together with the Marketing team, they ensure our sponsors are highlighted through social media and ongoing updates. Long term partnerships are built through trust, transparency and fulfilled agreements. Every sponsor joining our journey is valued, but we continue to aim high, with dream partners such as SpaceX or Kongsberg, all while keeping the team spirit alive with our anthem, Schnappi das kleine Krokodil.

Internal Systems

The Internal Systems team consists of four members responsible for creating and maintaining internal web tools. These tools are designed to make other teams’ workflows faster, easier, and more efficient, allowing them to focus more time on working on the car and developing their skills.

The team are currently developing several core systems, including the BOM (Bill of Materials), the TDHS (Test Data Handling System), and a unified authentication solution shared across all internal web tools. The technical stack primarily consists of React using the JavaScript framework for the frontend, a Python-based backend, and Docker to organize and manage our applications and automation scripts.

Internal systems work plays a critical role in improving the organisation’s efficiency. With a fixed amount of time to build the best car possible, streamlined workflows are essential. They design our systems to be intuitive and easy to understand, especially for new members, so they can onboard quickly and feel comfortable with the organisation’s workflows.

Looking ahead, the goal is to create a cohesive system used across all teams, where information is easy to access, well-structured, and simple to find. We aim to establish a clear philosophy for all internal systems, supported by documentation, guides, and shared knowledge in a centralised location. In doing so they hope to significantly improve the experience on the administrative side of the organisation while also adding fun easter eggs for everyone to enjoy.

Because the mission is to support all teams, collaboration and clear communication are central to how we work. Depending on the project the internal systems team collaborates more closely with certain teams, but our focus remains on understanding their needs and improving their workflows.

As a newly created team within the organisation, the early work is especially important, as it sets the standard and foundation for all web tools we will create going forward.

That´s all from our non-technical teams and as you may understand they work a bit more behind the scenes, but are equally important to the organisation.

LiU Formula Student – Where Students Become Professionals