There was not even an Formula 1 car – well, not in the traditional sense.
Instead, three students each from St Bede’s College in Mentone, Victoria and Brighton Secondary School in Adelaide – together known as Team Infinitude – have learnt complex layers of science, engineering, mathematics, planning, sponsorship and organisational skills.
The task was to build a Formula 1 car from scratch in miniature then race it against other schools around the world.
The global “F1 in Schools Technology Challenge” involves more than nine-million school students from 17,000 schools across 44 nations each year, including around 40,000 in Australia.
It is designed to stimulate interest in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathsm subject areas.
A video of the event and the team breaking the world record (at the 5h 14m 29s mark)
Last week, the St Bede’s students were rewarded in their win by a visit from four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost, in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix.
He was invited to the school by Renault Australia to congratulate the students on their record-breaking run and to encourage the Year 8 students to embark on this year’s program.
Mr Prost was accompanied by Patrice Ratti, head of Renault Sport Cars Global and formerly a Formula 1 technician who once worked on Mr Prost’s car in his capacity as chief chassis engineer for Renault.
Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar said: “Team Infinitude created a Formula 1 racer in miniature and had to cope with many similar engineering challenges that full-size racing teams, such as our own Renault Sport Formula 1 Team, grapple with.”
“They studied structural, aerodynamic, frictional and road-holding issues and even came up with a unique and ultimately successful Launch Energy Recovery System that gave them critical tenths of a second advantage that helped secure their record,” he said.
The successful Australian team was made up of six students, three from each school, who worked on all aspects of the car’s origination, design, refinement and build.
Team Infinitude beating the world record. source: facebook
They also had to design and implement a succinct marketing and sponsorship campaign that attracted the support of the Australian Department of Defence, as well as smaller, local sponsors.
Team Infinitude members travelled to Austin, Texas last October to compete in the World Finals having successfully navigated state and national rounds of the competition. The World Finals were timed to coincide with the United States Grand Prix.
The leader of Formula 1 in Schools in Australia and founder of the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation, Dr Michael Myers, said it was imperative that “we inspire, equip and guide younger generations to be innovators, to embrace world-best technology, to expand their world-view, and to believe that they can make a difference”.
“With our applied learning approach, focus on industry collaboration and mentoring, we have produced an environment with an accelerated learning path which enables young teenagers to master university-level technology early in their high school years.”
During the preliminary knockout rounds of the 12th running of the World Finals, Team Infinitude set a new event World Record of 0.916 seconds across the 20 metre long track with their small four-wheeled racer reaching speeds in excess of 80 km/h.
All cars are powered by a small canister of pressurised CO2 gas, and run on a nylon tether to keep them safely on track. As with Formula 1, there are many rules and regulations defining permitted technologies, dimensions and vehicle footprints.
Further details of the F1 in Schools technology Challenge are available on www.rea.org.au (Australia) and http://www.f1inschools.com/ (global).
More information about Team Infinitude is on the Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/InfinitudeAustralia
By Neil Dowling
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