Students from St Muredach’s College in Ballina have qualified for the F1 in Schools World Finals in Melbourne next year. Their team ‘Annex Racing’ beat off stiff competition to take fourth place in the national finals held earlier this year.
F1 in Schools is the only global multi-disciplinary challenge in which teams of students aged 9 to 19 deploy CAD/CAM software to collaborate, design, analyse, manufacture, test, and then race miniature compressed air powered cars made from the F1 model block.
Annex Racing consists of Team Manager Niall Treacy, Ben Maloney, Cian Newcombe and Harry Regan. Team Manager Niall Treacy said: "I have benefited enormously from this competition. At the beginning a managerial role was new to me and this competition has allowed me to develop my leadership and communication skills through interaction with sponsors and other parties. I have also learned a variety of new software including InDesign which I used to create the portfolios."
Design and Manufacturing Engineer Ben Maloney said: "F1 in Schools provides an excellent challenge to young aspiring engineers like myself. It has enabled me to push both my design and engineering skills to their limits. allowing for rapid improvement of my abilities which I believe will stand to me later in life. It has also improved my communication skills through many meetings with our manufacturing partners.”
Aaron Hannon, Co-Founder of F1 in Schools, has called on schools to enter this year’s programme, saying: "F1 in Schools is a fantastic opportunity for second-level students to learn how to be a leader, an engineer or a businessperson in a fast-paced, exciting and competitive way.
"Through participating in the challenge, the Annex Racing team have earned a once-in-a-lifetime trip to represent Ireland at the F1 in Schools World Finals, where they will meet like-minded students from all around the globe.
"At F1 in Schools Ireland, we’re delighted to work with new schools and new teachers to help bring these opportunities to even more students. As such, we encourage all schools to contact us or visit f1inschools.ie to learn more about entering the 2020/21 F1 in Schools season."
The F1 in Schools World Finals will take place in Melbourne in March 2021.
