Hyundai Motorsport systems engineer Bettina Szelezsán talks Formula Student

Bettina Szelezsán always wanted to be an engineer. But she credits Formula Student with igniting her passion for racing and putting her on the path to a job at Hyundai Motorsport.

Bettina has returned to help organise multiple Formula Student Symposiums since her attendance as a team member. The 2024 event, from 15-17 November, will see Bettina inspire the engineers of tomorrow as one of the guest speakers.

This is Bettina’s story, from a small town in Hungary to being part of the winning team at her first WRC event for Hyundai Motorsport.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?

I grew up in a small town in south-eastern Hungary. I knew early on that I wanted to be an engineer, initially with agricultural machines. But my interest in motorsport took off when I became involved in Formula Student while studying for a BSc in mechanical engineering in 2017.

After graduation, I moved to the University of Győr to study for an MSc in vehicle engineering. Then I worked as a researcher at the university, followed by six months as a HIL/SIL engineer for an automotive manufacturer before joining Hyundai Motorsport in November 2023.

What is the Formula Student competition and how is it judged?

Formula Student is the biggest and most complex engineering competition in the world. Hundreds of teams compete across the four categories: Combustion, Electric, Driverless and Hybrid propulsion.

Each university team has one year to develop and build a single-seater ‘Formula’ type race car. During that time, the students run their race team. So as well as design and construction of the car, they must plan and control things like budgets, time and human resources.

Judging of the competition is then divided into two main parts, ‘Dynamic’ and ‘Static’. Dynamic evaluates the performance of the race car and driver for various disciplines such as acceleration, endurance and efficiency.

Static assesses the knowledge and preparation of the team members in areas such as organisation, business, marketing, manufacturing and design engineering. All the skills they’ve learnt while completing the project.

What were your Formula Student experiences and how did the competition influence your career?

The biggest impact on my professional and personal life was starting the master’s degree in Győr and becoming a member of the university’s Formula Student team, the Arrabona Racing Team.

During the first season, I was responsible for the wiring harness. This is one of the most complex subsystems of a car because it connects all the electrical parts. It was a big advantage for me because you get to know the whole car.

The next season, I became head of electronics, which meant responsibility for the entire electronic system and team members working in that department. It was a varied role, ranging from drawing up the initial requirements to manufacturing, testing and validation. Along the way, it taught me valuable people skills plus experience in time, financial and human resource management.

That year, I was also responsible for the Static preparation. It was great because, while emphasising the engineering-business content, I could use my creativity for the style in which we introduced our race car and team.

Based on my Formula Student experiences, I knew I wanted a career in a complex field where I could quickly see my impact on the whole project. My familiarity with race electronics made the position of system engineer a good fit for me.

This year, you will be participating as a guest speaker at the Formula Student Symposium. Can you tell us more about this event?

The symposium is organised by the Széchenyi István University in Győr. The key aims are to boost technical skills for the Formula Student competition and meet role models for a career in motorsport.

In 2018, I was there as a participant and from 2021 I’ve been an organiser. At first, I was responsible for the technical program, compiling a list of topics most relevant to a Formula Student team or anyone who wants to work in motorsport.

Then, for the last year, I’ve been project manager of the symposium. I was still dealing with the technical program but was also involved in the communication and financial planning of the event.

The highlight for most students is the chance to meet inspiring motorsport professionals, who can advise on engineering solutions and discuss how their careers have progressed from Formula Student to Formula One, WRC or any other leading motorsport.

This year I will be among the speakers. My topic will be Static preparation for Formula Student and resource management from an engineering perspective. It’s quite important but can sometimes be overlooked by engineers!

You cooperate with many different departments as a system engineer at Hyundai Motorsport. Can you explain more about your job?

One of the best things about being a system engineer is that you are involved in almost all the processes from development to racing. You follow the whole life of the car from design to build, then testing and racing.

During the development phase of the parts, we cooperate with the design engineers. Then during the build-up procedure, while the mechanics assemble the car, we go through a checklist covering all the electronic systems.

Once the car moves on to testing and racing, we cooperate with the performance and engine engineers by providing all the data for them. We also constantly monitor the entire electronic system.

Before every test, we gather all the sensors requested by the other departments and create the software. This depends on the track environment, gravel or tarmac, or if we want to test any specific mechanical parts or use any particular sensors.

We also work closely with the drivers and co-drivers to optimise their peripherals. For example, if they want anything changed for the steering wheel set-up, displays or radio system.

The department is also very busy after each event. We follow-up and try to solve all the pending issues, as well as use the gathered data to improve our systems.
I’m mainly involved in the pre-event and development tests, but I’ve also had the opportunity to participate in Rally Sweden and Rally Portugal. Sweden was my first-ever rally and I worked on Lappi’s car, which won! So that was an amazing start to my journey with HMSG.