Blue Mountains Grammar School’s F1 in Schools’ Thrust Vector team has won this year’s national title. The five-member team has also won a place at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi later this year.
The F1 in Schools Challenge is the world’s foremost student competition for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Teams from 44 countries are competing in this year’s Challenge.
Competing in the Development Class, the PAYCE-sponsored Year 10 team of Mirah Larkin (Team Manager), Zach Burgess (Marketing Manager), Matt Foster (Graphic Designer), Fin Hastie (Manufacturing Engineer) and Nick Hayes (Design Engineer) won awards for Best Engineered CAD, Best Manufactured Car, Best Engineering Design, Best Verbal Presentation and Best Innovation on their way to being crowned overall national champions.
PAYCE Director, Dominic Sullivan said PAYCE was pleased to support the Blue Mountains Grammar team.
The team had wins in the regional finals and then the state finals.
“We were impressed with the many hours the team put into the Thrust Vector project during and after school,” he said.
“Taking out the national championship was testimony to their hard work and dedication.
“The F1 in Schools Challenge assists young students to develop skills and knowledge that will benefit them for years to come.”
Teams design and build a small scale F1 racing cars from a block of balsawood using software and sophisticated computerised laser cutting tools.
The teams also use a 3D printer to produce parts such as spoilers and wings to fine tune their design.
The CO2 gas cylinder-powered cars can reach speeds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour.
They are timed to one-thousandth of a second as they travel in pairs along a 20 metre track.
