The future is bright for a group of Galway based engineers who have just booked their place at the F1 in Schools World Finals in Kuala Lumpur next October, where they will fly the Irish flag and compete against teams from all over the globe to be crowned F1 in Schools World Champions for 2017.
Victorum Racing from St. Brigid’s College in Loughrea have been crowned F1 in Schools national champions for 2017, beating off stiff competition from a selection of the top second and third level colleges in the country.
Regarded as the largest ever global STEM initiative, Formula 1 in Schools operates in over 45 countries, challenging young people to work in teams and engineer their own miniature CO2 powered F1 car, capable of travelling at speeds in excess of 140km/h. The challenge inspires students to use IT to learn about physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacturing, branding, graphics, sponsorship, marketing, leadership/teamwork, media skills and financial strategy, and apply them in a practical, imaginative, competitive and exciting way.
Students use cutting edge CAD/CAM software to design, virtually test and manufacture their own unique car design, before developing business and marketing plans to fully fund the cost of their endeavours. Competitors are judged on the speed of their cars, engineering, marketing, teamwork and innovation, along with comprehensive verbal presentations of the project.
The Victorum Racing team have been working on the project since last September, and in that time they have steered their way through qualifying and all the way to the top spot on the podium at the national finals which were held in Newry on March 22nd last.
Team Manager, Ruth Conway, said that; “The team are delighted with our success, it’s a nice reward for all the work we have put into the competition over the past year, and we are now looking forward to representing Ireland with distinction on the world stage”
The team must now focus in on key components of their project to ensure that they have the best possible chance of success in Kuala Lumpur. A major goal for the world final is to create a car design capable of completing the twenty metre race track in under a second.
Victorum Racing are now looking for sponsorship partners to come on board with them for the world finals. It presents a fabulous opportunity for a company to be associated with a vibrant team of young people promoting success in STEM subjects. You can contact the team through their website, www.victorumracing.com. As the competition also relies heavily on teams building a team profile on social media, Victorum Racing need everyone’s support on Facebook: Victorum Racing Twitter: @VictorumRacing and Instagram: @VictorumRacing. Their social media platforms are a great way of following all the teams’ activities over the coming months.
With everyone’s support behind them the team are looking forward to showing the world that Galway and Ireland can lead the way for engineering, science and innovative thinking.
The world finals are closely supported by Formula One and its partners, and the finalists will be special guests of the Malaysian Grand Prix held in Kuala Lumpar during the competition. Sky sports F1 commentator, David Croft, will compere the whole event, which will be live streamed across the globe.
