Kildare school competes in All-Ireland "F1 in Schools" competition

Transition Year students Rebecca Loftus, Grace Murphy and Clodagh Kelly

placeholder image — Transition Year students Rebecca Loftus, Grace Murphy and Clodagh Kelly

Transition Year students Grace Murphy, Rebecca Loftus and Clodagh Kelly travelled to Leisureland in Galway on Friday, to represent our school at the “F1 in Schools” All-Ireland Final. In August 120 schools entered the competition and since then, our team, Supernova Racing have had county and regional rounds. Supernova Racing were one of 65 schools to reach the All-Ireland.

The international initiative is aimed at engaging and challenging secondary school students, as well as introducing them to the possibilities of careers in Engineering, Science, Technology, Marketing and Project Management.  The international competition requires teams to Design, Manufacture, Test, Race and Market a miniature Formula One style car. It is propelled down a 20-meter track powered by the jet from a C02 canister. The average car will complete the race in just over one second, reaching speeds topping 70 km/h. In addition to designing and racing the car, the students also had to produce enterprise, engineering and technical drawings portfolios. The team ranked 16th on the day and were nominated for best newcomer, which was a huge achievement as it was the first time the school had ever entered this competition.

At the finals the girls and each team were judged in 4 main areas;

Enterprise, students were judged on the marketing, exhibition display, how they raised sponsorship and how they created a team identity.

Engineering, how they designed, tested and manufactured the car.

A 10-minute verbal presentation on how they organised the workload and their journey in the competition.

Car races, each car raced 4 times at least, fastest cars re-raced and scores recorded.

Prior to the final, the girls collaborated with a number of local businesses including Donovan Printing for their exhibition display, Regatta and the Back to School store for the embroidered uniforms, along with LOH motorsports to learn more about racing. A huge thanks to all those involved.

Also, thank you to the parents and other businesses that supported the team with finance and products to make the car, including HFSS parents council, Mrs Grogan, JL Bradshaw and Folens.

The girls were complimented on their car design and its speed and the girls were thrilled with how the car performed. Thanks to Mrs. Loftus and Mrs Murphy who travelled with the girls Friday and to their teacher Ms Whelan.