Schools through to finals of STEM F1 event
PUPILS BID FOR UK TITLE
FOUR teams of students from Tyneside schools are gearing up for a prestigious national final after designing and racing their own scale model Formula 1 car – with their sights set on world glory.
The teams – Igneous Racing and Novo from Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, Imperium from Whitley Bay High School plus Team Synergy from Emmanuel College, Gateshead, designed speedy race cars for the North East regional final of the acclaimed F1 in Schools STEM Challenge.
The competition challenges students to prepare business plans, design, analyse, make, test and then race a scale model Formula 1 race car.
The national finals of the competition will showcase high-flying student talent, with 48 teams competing for the F1 in Schools UK Champions title and a place at the World Finals later this year.
The national final is on March 11 and 12 at Airbus’ West Factory in Broughton, Flintshire, where wings for the company’s entire family of commercial aircraft are manufactured.
Winning student teams from regional finals around the country will race their bespoke designs of miniature Formula 1 cars on the Official F1 in Schools 20 metre track, present their business plans, display their engineering designs and showcase their work to a panel of industry and engineering experts.
The two-day competition tests their F1 car designs to the limit on track, as well as the students supporting work with a busy timetable of judging sessions.
Joe Wise, one of the five members of team Novo which also includes Talha Pathan, Matthew Abraham, Pete Lord and Sam Wincott – all aged 17 – said: “We’ve worked for three years to reach the National Finals and having won a nice cheque for £750, we’ll be able to improve our team identity and it will really help us.
“The ultimate goal is to get to the World Finals. We’ve looked at the marketing side of the team, and for the car, we’ll be looking at improvements to it as well. There’s something for everyone in this competition, whether it’s engineering, management, creative skills, it’s great.”
The UK champions will win tickets to the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, including exclusive paddock access at the event, plus a Formula 1 team factory tour, two £5,000 scholarships for UCL Mechanical Engineering and, for the winning school, a F1-branded race track and race control system with car deceleration system worth £5,000 from Denford Ltd.
The winners will also be rewarded with a place at the F1 in Schools World Finals 2019 where students compete for the coveted World Champions trophy, plus prestigious engineering scholarships at City University of London and University College London.
Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of F1 in Schools, said: “We’ve had an exceptionally strong series of regional finals with outstanding car designs, innovative ideas and highly professional presentations, so I’m very excited to see how they all perform, and I’m sure they will all have raised their game for the National Finals.
“Bringing Formula 1 into the classroom with this programme really inspires the students and nurtures a passion for engineering as well as developing the students’ life skills. They all learn so much, without realising it!”
There’s something for everyone in this competition, whether it’s engineering, management, creative skills, it’s great. JOE WISE, TEAM NOVO