Institution news
The Colossus F1 team, from Robert May’s School, has been crowned the 2014 F1 in Schools World Champions. Whittle Wonders from North Leamington School achieved an impressive 13th place. Both teams had received financial support from the Institution.
The F1 in Schools competition requires pupils to use software to design, build, test and race a miniature F1 car, made from balsa wood and powered by a compressed CO2 cylinder. Teams must also produce a 20-page A3 portfolio, deliver a 10-minute presentation, and construct a pit display to showcase their work. Just like in Formula One, there is also a strict set of regulations covering the car’s design, and eagle-eyed scrutineering.
Colossus F1, a team of six students from Robert May’s School in Odiham – Vicky Waterfield, Charlie Flynn, Emma Baldry, Dan Warnes, Rachael Matthews and Paul Cumner – punched the air with delight when they found out they had taken the title.
The Institution's Education Advisory Group provided the team with £3,000 to support their bid. They have also been invited to visit the Prime Minister's residence, Number 10 Downing Street, in 2015.
According to organisers, Colossus F1 were the outstanding team at this year’s finals, setting a new F1 in Schools World Record with a time of 1.003 seconds and winning two other awards as well as the title.
The Innovative Thinking Award presented by Lotus F1 was given to the team for their Air Cushion Device, an innovation that caused acceleration and controversy in equal measure.
With the aid of this device and their unique water tunnel testing programme, the team smashed the World Record of seven years’ standing, however it was declared by the judges not to be admissible for the World Finals event judging, so the team kept the record but didn’t have the fastest car in the competition.
The team’s mastery of Autodesk 3D software proved a winner too, with the team also collecting the Autodesk Pressure Challenge Award, designing and 3D rendering a helmet for Formula 1, all within two hours.
Vicky Waterfield, Team Manager of Colossus F1, said: “I’m speechless, I think I need to pinch myself as I just can’t believe this has happened. We really didn’t think we’d win as there have been so many great teams competing. We have had an amazing experience and to win this has topped it. We’ve worked so hard, putting in eight hours at school and then another eight hours afterwards, but it really paid off.”
Whittle Wonders
A team of students from North Leamington School, calling themselves ‘Whittle Wonders’ (after Sir Frank Whittle, a former pupil of the school) earned their place at the World Finals of F1 in Schools in Abu Dhabi in November, after triumphing in the regional and UK National Championships. Whittle Wonders, raised £15,000 – including £3,500 in Institution sponsorship.
There, they battled it out with 38 other teams for the title of World Championship, achieving an impressive 13th place.
The team members, all of whom are now pursuing ‘A’ Levels and further education engineering courses, are Harry Birch, Tom Govern, Tom Bradford and Ryan McLaren.
Faced with travel, accommodation, branding and shipping costs, one of the greatest challenges for the young team was to raise finances. They had received valuable support from Coventry and Warwick Universities, and a number of engineering companies and local businesses, including significant help from Alphateq.
They organised a variety of fund-raising activities, and their families and friends got behind the team’s endeavour.
Whittle Wonders wrote to the Chief Executive of the Institution, Stephen Tetlow, outlining their regional and national achievements. They explained that they needed to raise funds in order to be able to compete further. They sent him their award-winning portfolio, and Stephen was delighted to respond with £500 towards their total, saying he was impressed by their achievements and wishing them well in the challenge ahead.
John Butler, Education Officer for the Midland Region of the Institution, also took up the team’s cause.
John explained: “We considered it well worth supporting this local school for such an event and gained sponsorship of £3000 from the Education Awards Committee at the Institution. The experience gained by the team members from the school was exceptional and we are proud to have been involved with this great engineering youth activity.”
In the run up to their adventure at the World Championships, Whittle Wonders:
- Visited the Institution
- Attended the President’s Address at the IET
- Toured the Whitleys and Gaydon sites of Jaguar Land Rover
- Were guests at Williams F1
In addition, they watched the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, enjoying a tour of the McLaren garage and Brand Centre.
Supported by family members and teachers, the team travelled to Abu Dhabi for the three-day competition. After a great deal of hard work, tough examination and exacting challenges, Whittle Wonders received the following placements:
- Nominated for the Research and Development award
- Nominated for the Pressure Challenge award (helmet design)
- Overall, placed 13th out of 38 teams
Around 20,000 schools worldwide took part in F1 in Schools. Whittle Wonders was therefore placed 13th out of 20,000.
The four members of Whittle Wonders said: “The F1 in Schools World Finals was the most amazing experience for the team. To have taken part in this, aged 16, is an amazing opportunity and something we will remember all our lives. Without sponsors, however, none of this would have been possible and we remain indebted to everyone who has supported us.”
John Butler also commented: “As a Region, we are very concerned with engaging with young people and this is just one of three events we have had this last month. We have run some stands at the ThinkTank Birmingham Museum entitled 'Meet the Experts'.
"Children were able to see what engineers did and to talk to engineers about their profession. We also ran our IMechE annual stand at the Midland Imagineering Fair where we had interactive projects building either Bloodhound cars or tower cranes with nearly 300 children over two days."