Podium finish for F1 pupils at Silverstone
Scarborough students win top awards at worldwide contest
A team of three teenage students from Scarborough have lifted the third-place trophy at the F1 in Schools World Finals after earning a podium finish.
The Scarborough UTC students – Missy McArdle, 18; Libby Atkin, 17; and Alex Jenkin, 18 – also scooped the trophy for Best Project Management and were runners-up in the Pit Display Award.
The trio were applauded for their “excellent understanding and professional skills” by event organisers.
“We are immensely proud,” said Missy, Jake and Libby. “The journey and development throughout our time at the UTC and in F1 in Schools has been immeasurable and breath-taking.
“Being awarded the Project Management Award, nominated for Best Pit Display and to be announced third in the world just tops it off for us.”
The Scarborough teenagers raced miniature compressed air-powered cars and were tested on their engineering and management skills as well as a financial and marketing strategy.
They faced tough competition at the world finals from hundreds of students in 52 teams from 23 countries including Australia, China, India and the USA.
Ashley Dalton Forsyth, of the Project Management Institute Education Foundation, said “the team produced outstanding work, with an amazing portfolio of professional quality”.
The three students won their place in the finals at Silverstone – the British home of Formula 1 – after being crowned UK national champions in October last year.
Missy, a former pupil at George Pindar School and team principal, hopes to complete an MSc degree in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes University.
She won the top award last October for Girls on Track UK, a scheme to encourage more female students to consider careers in engineering and motorsport.
Libby, the team’s project manager, hopes to take an aerospace engineering management degree.
Alex, a former pupil at Graham School and the team’s engineer, will be undertaking an apprenticeship degree with the Ministry of Defence as a mechanical engineer.
UTC Principal Lee Kilgour said: “The Scarborough UTC community is so proud of the SBA Avidity Racing F1 in Schools Team.
“For Missy, Alex and Libby and our Director of Engineering Rob Shephard, this is an amazing award which reflects their dedication, hard work, long hours and their incredible talent.”
Peter Wilkinson, former chairman of trustees at UTC and retired chairman of the Scarborough Business Ambassadors, said: “I am overwhelmed at their triumphs on the world stage.
“The Ambassadors supported the college and its F1 in Schools teams from day one and we are extremely proud of what has been achieved.”
The UTC Avidity Racing team is sponsored by the Scarborough Business Ambassadors, along with Anglo American, Carter Bearings, BDC Machinery, Blue Raptor Signs, Nissan, IGUS and McCain Foods.
TeamUTCreachedtheAbu Dhabi world finals in 2019.