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F1 IN SCHOOLS
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What is F1 in Schools?

It's a competition for teams of 3-6 school children to design and manufacture miniature CO2-powered racing cars and then race them at regional, national and international level.

Sounds simple? Not when you consider that these 11-18 year old kids use state-of-the-art software programmes that enable them to play around with CAD (computer aided design) and CFD (computational fluid dynamics), just like real F1 designers.

Or that they have to manage the whole project from scratch, from drawing up a business plan and raising the sponsorship to finance it through the design and manufacturing stages to a presentation in front of a panel of eminent judges.

Faster than F1!

The object of the exercise is to make these miniature projectiles travel a 20-metre distance in the shortest time possible.

The record is right on 1.1 seconds, an average speed of 18.18 m/s. To put that in perspective, that’s faster than Fernando Alonso’s Renault could manage over the same distance, notwithstanding its 900bhp cargo in the back!

Check out the F1 in Schools website by clicking here

Mission

The F1 in Schools initiative was set up in 2000 as a way of raising the profile of engineering as a career option and assisting the teaching of the subject in schools and colleges.

Since that time some two million children have taken part, and it has expanded into an international competition.

Twenty countries have signed up to this year’s contest, and the winners of each national competition will face each other in the world final at the Autosport International Show on 15 January 2005.

Who's backing it?

F1 in Schools’ indefatigable founder and chairman Andrew Denford recently landed a major coup by securing the official endorsement of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Apart from the kudos that automatically flows from Bernie’s name being linked to the project, it means Denford is able to use official F1 branding for promotional and advertising purposes.

Ecclestone's company Formula One Management has granted F1 in Schools the rights to use a new specially designed livery and trademark-protected logo.

“We are delighted to be supporting F1 in Schools,” said Ecclestone. “It is extremely important to the future of our sport to encourage young people to enter the world of high-performance engineering.

“F1 in Schools is a truly global challenge, which meets all the objectives of our business.”

Luminaries from the political and business world have also expressed support for the scheme, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI.

ITV-F1’s lead commentator James Allen has been involved from the beginning and serves as a patron of F1 in Schools.

“I spend my whole life working in F1 where the best of the best operate,” says James. “I never thought it was possible for children to attain such high standards. This is exceptional.”

F1’s technical boffins on board

While Bernie’s backing is priceless from a commercial and PR standpoint, the fact that three of F1’s leading technical directors – Ferrari’s Ross Brawn, Sam Michael of Williams and Toyota’s Mike Gascoyne – have lent their support brings huge additional credibility.

Michael attended the F1 in Schools presentation at Cass Business School on Tuesday 22 November and was impressed with what he found.

He said: “The level that they’ve gone to, looking at things like manufacturing techniques, CADs, CFD, studying levels of friction – it’s fantastic that kids of 12 years old are looking at that sort of thing.

“It puts the awareness of Formula 1 into schools at an early stage.”

Williams prize

The winner of the 2005 F1 in Schools CAD/CAM Design Challenge will be invited to the Williams factory in Grove to see how a real F1 team operates.

“There will be a series of four presentations from myself, the chief designer Jorg Zander, chief aerodynamicist Loic Bigois and head of CFD, Nathan Eagles,” said Michael.

“In between there’ll be a tour of the factory and all of the manufacturing plant, race and test teams and sub-assembly groups so they can see how things are designed and built.

“And then finally there will be a tour of the museum so they can see a bit of the history of Williams.

“So we hope it will give them an insight into what it’s like to actually design a Formula 1 car.”

A life-changing experience

F1 in Schools 'graduate' Adam Charnley testifies to the value of getting involved: "You gain a lot of skills from it, not just in designing the cars but also communication and sponsorship skills.

"You also learn how to build a car that is not only fast and efficient but also reliable and cheap to manufacture.

"I had started an architecture course at uni and I’ve now changed courses to an engineering degree, which is what I really wanted to do in the first place, so it’s changed my life."

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