From Lecture Hall to Silverstone: ENP Students Drive Algeria’s Engineering Ambitions onto the Global Stage
A team from Algeria’s National Polytechnic School transformed a classroom concept into the country’s first fully designed and manufactured Formula Student race car, earning international recognition at Silverstone while laying the foundations for a new generation of engineering innovation.
By Dr. Hana Saada
ALGIERS — Designing a race car entirely from scratch, securing its certification under the stringent technical requirements of one of the world’s most prestigious university engineering competitions, and representing Algeria on the iconic Silverstone Circuit would have seemed an ambitious undertaking for any student team.
Yet that is precisely what students from the National Polytechnic School (ENP) of El Harrach achieved, culminating in international recognition during their debut appearance at Formula Student UK 2026.
Behind the achievement lies a year of intensive engineering, problem-solving and collaboration, driven by a shared determination to demonstrate that Algerian engineering talent is capable of competing alongside leading international universities.
Speaking about the project, Bensayeh Mohamed Anis, one of the team’s members, said the experience extended far beyond the scope of an academic assignment.
While designing and building the single-seater required the full application of the team’s technical expertise, he said the greatest challenge was successfully delivering the project despite numerous technical and logistical constraints.
“We had the necessary skills. The real challenge was finding solutions and continuing to move forward despite the difficulties,” he said.
For Anis, the competition also offered a valuable international experience.
During several days at Silverstone, the Algerian students exchanged ideas with teams from across the world, all united by a common passion for automotive engineering.
“We discovered that, despite our different backgrounds, we had all started from zero with the same ambition: to build a race car and represent our universities and our countries,” he said.
He added that the experience enabled the team to work in an international environment while comparing their engineering methods with those employed by other leading institutions.
For Othmani Mohamed, who led the structural design of the car, the project was first and foremost an educational challenge aimed at transforming theoretical knowledge into practical engineering.
“Our objective was to transform what we learned in the classroom into a real project,” he said.
According to Othmani, the experience allowed team members to develop not only advanced technical expertise but also project management, organisation and teamwork skills throughout the year-long development process.
The team’s first participation concluded with a highly symbolic achievement.
The ENP delegation received the Allan Staniforth Best Newcomer Award, presented to the highest-performing team making its debut in the competition—a distinction recognising both the quality of the project and its future potential.
For the students, however, the award represents more than a trophy.
“Our objective was not simply to participate or to win, but to open the way for Algerian talent,” Anis said.
He explained that demonstrating such a project could be successfully realised in Algeria, inspiring other students and encouraging the emergence of new university engineering teams, now forms part of the group’s broader mission.
Building on the experience gained and the international recognition secured at Silverstone, the team is already preparing new engineering projects and intends to return to future international competitions with even greater ambitions.
Organised annually by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom, Formula Student UK is widely regarded as one of the world’s premier university automotive engineering competitions.
Each year, more than one hundred university teams design, manufacture and defend a prototype race car meeting rigorous engineering standards. Entries are assessed through static events evaluating engineering design, business planning and project management, alongside dynamic on-track performance tests.
The competition has become an internationally recognised benchmark for educating the next generation of automotive and motorsport engineers.
At the 2026 edition, the ENP El Harrach team secured the Allan Staniforth Best Newcomer Award, recognising the strongest first-time entrant in the competition and marking a significant milestone for Algerian engineering on the international stage.
Adapted from:
https://www.horizons.dz/2026/08/le-pari-reussi-des-etudiants-de-lenp/
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