At the end of last year, the ceremony of awarding the first final Prize "Peak" in the history of Moscow Polytechnic University took place.
We start a series of interviews with the winners of the award in various categories.
And we begin it with a story about the victory of the engineering and sports student team of Moscow Polytechnic University EMP Moscow, which became the winner of the award in the category "Victory of the Year". In 2020, at the Baikal Mile Speed Festival, the team set an ice speed record of 210.5 km/h.
We had a talk with head of the Smartmoto laboratory, Semyon Zemtsev, who told us about the team's path to this victory.
Hello! Please tell us about the history of the team. How did it all begin? Who was at the origins?
In 2013, under the leadership of Pablo Iturralde, Dean of Transport Faculty of Moscow Poly, the engineering and sports student team of Moscow Poly EMP Moscow was formed. The team was created to participate in the international engineering competition Smart Moto Challenge - a championship among light motorcycles powered by electric traction, built by students of engineering universities.
For seven years of performances, our team has achieved excellent results and has repeatedly become the winner in individual categories and in the overall standings.
From one year to the next, we gained experience, and our motorcycles became technically more complex and more powerful, which allowed us to go beyond student competitions and try our hand at adult events. This is how the Baikal Mile Speed Festival appeared in life of the team, where for two years in a row our motorcycle have become the fastest among the electric ones.
How was the decision to take part in the "Baikal Mile" made for the first time?
We spent a long time thinking about how to make our team come into the spotlight outside university, and we came to the conclusion that we need to set record. For quite a long time and unsuccessfully, we have tried to understand what kind of record one of our prototypes can set, and here sponsors came to the aid - the Motul company. They told us that the Baikal Mile Festival of speed will be held on the ice of Lake Baikal for the first time, and we will successfully fit in there as the only student group.
What has changed in the team between the "Baikal Mile" of 2019 and 2020? What conclusions have been drawn, what has been improved?
The first time we showed up was our prototype Mig V, which was originally designed for student competitions and was heavily regulated by rules. For the races in 2020, we made a completely new motorcycle, which in all respects was much better suited for record-breaking speed races. Its power has increased seven times, the landing, wheels, and battery have changed. All this led to the fact that the new bike has no external resemblance to any of our previous prototypes.
Could you tell us about the preparations for the Baikal Mile 2020? What difficulties did you face?
The biggest challenge is the lack of background information for the design. We have greatly changed the vector, moving from the off-road theme to high-speed motorcycles. Not all the solutions that we have successfully applied over the past three years could be implemented in a new motorcycle. Therefore, the design was carried out from scratch.
What are your plans for 2021 and beyond?
Now we are starting our work on a new model of the motorcycle, which will take into account the experience of the previous prototype. We want to make the bike a broader focus, so that you can not only accelerate as fast as possible in a straight line, but also participate in other events.
Good luck!
