Dubai: A team of six students from Our Own High School are all set to present their miniature air powered balsa wood Formula One cars next week at Yas Marina circuit with high hopes of bagging the first place to represent UAE in the world finals of Formula One in Schools Challenge.
The global multidisciplinary Formula One challenge involving 12 million students around the world was brought to the UAE by Yas Marina Circuit a few years ago to inspire students across various schools in the UAE to learn more about areas related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Paul Bray, the F1 in Schools programme manager in the UAE, told Gulf News that through the excitement and appeal of Formula One, the Schools Challenge has been able to inform students about what careers in engineering, Formula One, marketing and technology can be like.
“Behind every driver in Formula One, is a team of 100 members working relentlessly for his success. This challenge takes students through such experiences like forming their own mini F1 teams and taking up different roles,” said Bray.
The participating grade 12 students from Our Own High School, who qualified after making it through internal and regional rounds, said they are ready to top this national round to qualify for the final challenge in Texas next year. They will be competing with other students from different schools in the UAE.
Working tirelessly to design, manufacture and test their cars using professional software, the group described their journey through the challenge as an experience of a lifetime.
Alan Alexander, 17, from India took up the role of the marketing manager in the group, which they called Traxeleration (acceleration on tracks), and said the final two cars they manufactured will not let them down.
“In the first phase of the project we designed several cars using AutoCAD and tested them virtually, we then had to order the best type of balsa wood to manufacture the cars, which are slightly bigger than the palm of a hand. In the third phase we had to raise funds through sponsorship to help us through our research,” he said.
On the day of the competition, October 13, the group will be judged on how fast their final car is, how well it has been designed and how dynamically stable it is, said Alexander, including how they present different stages of their project.
“On a 21-meter track, the car should cross the track under a second as soon as the trigger is released. At the back of the car, we made a slot to put a carbon dioxide canister, which once released makes the car go faster,” he said.
Karthick Shankar, the graphic designer in the team described the competition as a thrilling experience, full of tough challenges.
“It’s like running a whole company, from creating a logo and identity for our brand, marketing it, to getting sponsorships; we’re dealing with a whole spectrum of fields and working like professionals ,”said Shankar.
Alexander and Shankar said as grade 12 students in the scientific stream, the competition has enhanced the way they think and helped them in managing their time better.
“We have all it takes to win this competition,” said Alexander. “We will bring the fastest car to the YAS Marina Circuit and make it to the world finals.”
