Formula One lures young livewires into CAD and CFD

Formula One in Schools challenge teams use professional CAD and manufacturing software to design, analyse, build, test and race a 1/20-scale model F1 car made from a block of balsa wood and powered by CO2 cylinders. The cars may be small, but they do pack a punch, reaching a scaled speed exceeding 200mph.

The XLR8 team from Lochgelly High School are already Scottish National Champions and  claims to be the " only F1 carbon neutral car that we know of and we're proud of that." 

"The school and pupils get a lot out of this," teacher Scott Hunter is quoted as saying. "It is the only worldwide engineering competition and with 26 countries competing and over 18m students taking part, it is bigger than the X Factor."

As well as offering away into engineering for students, the event has a more serious side and fits the Scottish government's holistic approach of a Curriculum for Excellence, an initiative that aims to reform, simplify and prioritise the curriculum.

Hunter adds: "Learning and Teaching Scotland has invited us to be the public face for Curriculum for Excellence technologies. It might be offering it around the school as an elective programme and in the future there might be the possibility of looking at SQA units."

Lochgelly's team of two boys and four girls, has honed a number of skills in the project. As well as design, physics and media they have also had to become fundraisers, finding enough cash to get them to Malaysia for the event.

Hunter adds: "Educationally, it really works since it ties everything like maths, physics, design and technology, computing and even media and business studies together and makes it relevant and applied. It covers all skills, really.

"The prize is university scholarships for the whole team, for any subject at any university. The kids on the team and other interested children have given up their summer and mid-term break to come in to school and help with the car. F1 in Schools gives young children the opportunity to experience another world, in some cases their first time abroad, and seeing how they react to competing with students from different races and cultures."

Lochgelly team manager Conor Reed, 15, is quoted saying: "It's just brilliant, this is great for teaching us the skills we need for jobs; organisation, leadership, team work, even CAD engineering. We're so enthusiastic about it that we are in during the holidays - so we're not hanging about the streets. Everyone knows about us going to the final. We've even roped in our pals - spray-painting tracks to practice on.

"It's had a huge influence on me and I want to go to university to study graphic design because of the car. I've really enjoyed all the bits of graphic design we've done over the four years of the project. I've learned desktop publishing for the posters, portfolio and so on."

The teams, aged 11 to 18, will compete for the Bernie Ecclestone World Championship Trophy and an Automotive Engineering scholarship at City University, London. Each team was required to create their own design. With one student assigned to each key role, the team prepares a business plan, develops a budget and raises sponsorship to fund research, travel and accommodation.

There will be plenty of chances for the Lochgelly team in Malaysia as teams compete for a range of awards: World Champions, fastest car, best engineered car, innovative thinking, best newcomer, best team sponsorship/ marketing and best collaborative teams.

Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of the competition is quoted: "The aim of F1 in schools is to encourage students to consider engineering as a career by creating an exciting environment for young people to experience careers in engineering, Formula One, science, marketing and technology first-hand.

"The challenge inspires students to use IT to learn about physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacture, branding, graphics, sponsorship, marketing, leadership, teamwork, media skills and financial strategy, and apply them in a practical, imaginative, competitive and exciting way. Using three-dimensional computer-aided manufacturing software, the team evaluates the most efficient machining strategy to make the car.

"Aerodynamics are tested in wind and smoke tunnels and analysed for drag co-efficiency in a virtual reality wind tunnel using computational fluid dynamics software."

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group added: "I think the collaboration element of the competition is a fantastic idea. Formula One brings together a range of nationalities and cultures who work together to achieve a common goal and so replicating this in the F1 in Schools initiative will prove invaluable both personally and professionally for all the students taking part."


Source: http://www.theherald.co.uk/