School students prove their mettle in competition

Teams from Magdalene Catholic High School and Newington College in New South Wales have been crowned national champions in the prestigious F1 in Schools competition.

Chief executive officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation Warren King congratulated the winning teams and said the DMO was proud to be the national sponsor of the event, run in Australia by the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation.

“It’s great to see these young people, particularly so many girls and a mix of cultural backgrounds, gaining exposure to project management, engineering and technology-related projects at a time when they are planning further study and future careers,” King said.

The F1 in Schools program is an international initiative that encourages high school students to design, build and race model Formula One race cars.

The winning team in the Professional Class was “Gamma Rayzing” from Magdalene Catholic High School, with “Quantum” from Newington College taking out the Development Class.

The Australian National Champions will now progress to the world championships to be held in Abu Dhabi later this year. Australian teams have been crowned world champions for the past three years running, and four times since the event commenced.

The DMO has been the national sponsor of the F1 in Schools program since 2008.

“Australia needs engineers and other technical specialists in many sectors of the economy, but particularly in the defence sector,” King said.

“That’s why the DMO is so proud to sponsor the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation and this exciting program.

“It’s also why we have extended our sponsorship to include the Future Submarine Technology Challenge, a pilot program in 2014 focused on the Future Submarine program.

“The challenge will give participating students hands on experience with core submarine project elements, providing them the opportunity to design and manufacture scale submarine models,” he said.

Teams from Barker College and Merewether High School (both NSW) finished in second and third place in the Professional Class.

A team from Brighton Secondary School in South Australia finished second in the Development Class, continuing that school’s proud record having produced the 2012 world champions and the 2013 national champions. A team from Melba Copland Secondary School in Canberra finished third in the Development Class.

The finals of the F1 in Schools competition were held over three days at the National Convention Centre in Canberra. The Minister for Defence, Senator David Johnston, officially opened the event on March 17.