IN its first competitive year in the F1 in Schools competition, Kraken Racing from Canterbury College have taken out best team innovation at the national finals held in Sydney recently.
After competing against the best 16 teams from Australia, the team also received a top three placement in best engineering CAD, best engineered design, best team portfolio and best verbal presentation.
Their metal wheels and launch energy recovery system were the points to separate them from the competition.
Kraken Racing consists of five year 11 students, William Glass, Rohan Cornick, Shayne Andersen, Loie Webb and Joshua Thomson, who agreed that being new to the competition allowed them to be completely innovative.
Canterbury’s development F1 team, Raining Golfballs, placed in the top three for outstanding industry collaboration.
All teams used 3D engineering software, virtual wind tunnel software, 3D printers and CNC machine centres to design and make miniature 80km/h F1 cars, which they raced on 20-metre computer timed track and had portfolios judged by professional engineers.
Teacher Donna-Marie Forsyth said she had seen huge growth and development of skills in the teams over the length of the competition.
“It’s great to see students that are talented being able to take up the opportunity to further extend their skills,” she said.
Kraken Racing team manager William Glass said although they came tenth overall, there was very little separation between fourth and tenth places.
“The judges were very impressed with what we were able to achieve in the first year of competition,” he said.
“Getting to nationals was a big achievement and we brought home an award so I think we’ve done well.”
Digital media manager Shayne Andersen said the competition was very fierce but there was great oppourtunities to meet industry professionals and discuss the competition with other like-minded students.
“We really came in as underdogs in our first year,” he said.
“Other teams had that other experience from older students.”
William said they will now be able to help Canterbury teams into the future.
“We want to expand the F1 in Schools competition at school and eventually be able to get equipment so younger teams can get that experience,” he said.
William said the team thanks Mrs Forsyth, Leanne Hickson, their parents for their support as well as their industry partners, major sponsors and crowd fund donors.
During the nationals competition Assistant Minister for Science MP Karen Andrews said she was delighted that there were so many exceptionally talented students participating in the F1, subs and four-by-four in Schools Challenges.
“These competitions show that gaining STEM skills is not about dryly analysing spreadsheets or rote learning material from large textbooks,” she said.
“Yes, you need to master the principle of buoyancy to build a submarine, aerodynamics to construct an F1 car and durability to design a four-wheel-drive.
“But, more than that, STEM learning is about getting hands-on experience, thinking outside the box and feeling the excitement of creating something new.”
Kraken Racing now wait to hear whether they have been selected as a wildcard entry for the worlds competition.
