UAE students get a taste for racing in F1’s fast lane

Pupils are responsible for handling finances, marketing and branding, finding sponsors and finally designing, manufacturing and racing a miniature gas-powered, balsa-wood car.

After preliminary competitions for Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Al Ain, the best 20 teams travelled to Yas Marina Circuit for the UAE national finals on Tuesday – marking the climax of months of preparation.

Prizes among rookie and professional categories were given, including awards for best pre-race presentation, best "pit display”, best marketing profile, fastest car, fastest reaction time and best car design.

After a day of racing, team Impulse from Repton School Dubai in the rookie category and team Knight Hawks from The Indian High School in Dubai in the professional category were announced as winners.

Both will represent the UAE at the F1 in Schools World Finals in Austin, Texas next year.

Members of the Knight Hawks said they had been preparing for victory for four years, since they first formed as a team. After finishing 7th last year, they said they had to change everything.

"We had to change our car designs and change every aspect of our presentation, including our marketing strategy,” said team leader Aman Preet Singh, 16.

"We devised new methods of testing our car, we made our own wind tunnel,” said Abdullah Khan, 15. Other members of the team included Imtiyaz Hussain, 15, Kritagya Arora, 16, Pankaj Suresh, 15, and Bharat Motiyani, 16.

Maryam Al Ketbi, 12, team leader of Impulse, said her group – Daisy Hollbrook, Karim Farekh, Taha Gokal and Khaya Ngoma, all 12 years old— also put in years of work.

"We've been preparing for this moment for two years,” she said. "To win in the US, we have to work professionally to get on point, our verbal presentation needs work, and maybe our display can be better. We just want to look professional.”

Abdulla Al Shammari, Yas Marina Circuit community manager, said this was the 12th year of the F1 in Schools competition and that it was being held in 45 countries.

"It is all about education, and teaching students Stem – science, technology, engineering, and maths – in a fun way,” he said. "There are many technical aspects that these students need to look at.”

After participating in four different competitions and the 2012 world finals in Abu Dhabi, Aashish Salian, 19, returned to the racetrack on Tuesday, this time as a judge for the rookie category and as a mentor for the professional category winners, the Knight Hawks.

"I was doing this project for five years when we made it to the finals,” said Mr Salian, now a mechanical engineering student at Manipal University in Dubai.

"The things that we all do, it is not something kids normally do. It is something engineering students and professionals do. It includes the latest technology and manufacturing techniques.

Source: The National