25 May 2024 marked the finale of the first BritCham Shanghai F1 in Schools Primary Challenge held at the Virgin Atlantic British Day Out at The British International School Shanghai Puxi.
F1 in Schools is an international Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) programme which gives school children the opportunity to learn new skills in an exciting environment. In collaboration with F1 in Schools (SQ EDU), BritCham Shanghai launched its F1 in Schools programme and introduced it to the international business community in Shanghai, aiming to give students insight into what it takes to be an engineer, businessperson, designer and more as they build and race their own miniature compressed air powered Formula 1 miniature cars, create business and engineering portfolios, and demonstrate their presentation skills. With national and world events held annually, this really is a project that inspires students worldwide.
After a competitive day of racing cars, showing their designs and demonstrating their business and engineering prowess to our panel of expert judges including professors from University of Nottingham Ningbo China and Sino British College USST.
Dr Dunant Halim, Engineering judge and representative of gold sponsor, University of Nottingham Ningbo following the activities said:
“It was great to see so many enthusiastic students participating in this ‘F1 in Schools’ event, using their creativity and innovation to design and build miniature F1 race cars. Well done to all participants – what an exciting competition!”
All the students did a fantastic job creating, improving and testing their cars. Getting creative with their incredible portfolios and showing huge confidence as they presented to our team of judges, they should all walk away with their heads held high while knowing where they need to improve for next season.
During the day’s events students were scored in 5 categories with a single overall winner of the day!
Winners for Categories:
Pitlane (Public Vote): Harrowjee & P.H.P (Harrow Shanghai)
Engineering and Enterprise Presentation: Aeromentum (Y.K. PAO)
Engineering and Enterprise Portfolio: Aeromentum (Y.K. PAO)
Time Trial Racing: Dulwich Dynamos (Dulwich College Pudong)
Knockout Racing: Dulwich Dynamos (Dulwich College Pudong)
Harrow International School Shanghai
Harrow Shanghai showed fantastic community spirit winning the pitlane award thanks to the public vote, they showed great teamwork throughout the day, attracting attendees of the British Day to their booth to show off their cars, demonstrate their passion and win the vote.
Both Harrow Shanghai’s senior team P.H.P and junior team Harrowjee excelled in their presentations by showing a great understanding of aerodynamics and clearly being able to show how they used this knowledge on their cars.
Following the event Harrows F1 in Schools lead teacher David Coath said:
“Just reflecting on another lovely day. Children of different years collaborating together, combining ideas, problem solving and taking risks. No one knew what F1 in Schools would involve but the children showed courage trying something new. The character attributes they displayed are not easy to come by and I am so happy for them all. I know the work that has happened behind the scenes and I am very grateful to all for the support and of course the incredible support at the event.”
Wycombe Abbey School Nanjing
Wycombe Abbey Nanjing won the unofficial award of furthest travelling team, with their pit lane setup including a professional level go kart they certainly attracted lots of attention. Although the two teams WA Wolves and Super Speedy Stars didn’t walk away with any awards this time, they showed great understanding and creativity bringing their home made wind tunnel. Super Speedy Stars made the 3rd fastest car of the day in the time trail, while WA Wolves held their nerve to earn 3rd place in the knockout competition.
British International School Shanghai
At their home event, the British Internation School Shanghai’s two teams Cosmic Motors A and B both impressed the judges with their engineering and enterprise knowledge earning a 2nd and 3rd place in the portfolio and presentation categories. With some improvements to car dynamics, the Cosmic Motors teams will certainly be competing for gold in the next season.
YK PAO School
YK PAO team Aeromentum put in a sterling effort, picking up 1st prize in both the presentation and portfolio categories after really impressing the judges with their computer aided design work and aerodynamic simulation experience. Aeromentum implemented their understanding well, being right in the mix of the super competitive mid pack racing. The YK PAO team will certainly be looking ahead to try to earn the overall award next season.
Dulwich College Pudong
Last but not least, our overall winners of the day thanks in part to their super competitive cars and scoring competitively in other categories. Both the senior and junior teams of the Dulwich Dynamos lead the pack in the race events, with the senior team scoring a fastest time of 1.541 seconds and the juniors achieving second fastest of 1.647 seconds, with both teams achieving the same in the knockout race. The Dulwich Dynamos duo are the team to beat next season, it’s going to be exciting to see what improvements they make for the next season.
For any schools in the Shanghai area that are interested in participating in the next season, please contact Joss.Bevan@britishchambershanghai.cn for more information.
