Newcastle University Business School hosted this year’s regional finals, which saw a team of students from Emmanuel College, Gateshead, celebrate a win.  The winning team are through to the F1 in Schools™ UK National Finals after an intense and hard-fought North East England Regional Finals. This Formula One™ inspired educational challenge has captured the imagination of students up and down the country and with a place on the grid at the F1 in Schools World Finals 2013 to be held in Austin, Texas for the UK National Champions, every team put in hundreds of hours of work in their pursuit of the prize.
 
Red Kite Racing, a team from Emmanuel College with team members: Emily Miller, Team Manager, Elliott Johnson, Design Engineer; Jack Collier, Design Engineer and Rhys Rogers, Manufacturing Engineer, proved that hard work pays off as they collected the 1st Place F1Class trophy, as well as the Best Engineered Car Award and Fastest F1 Car Award, with the team’s car racing down the track in a time of 1.166 seconds.
 
Elliott Johnson said of the team’s success, “I think we took the top award because there was a lot of teamwork, working to our strengths, many hours of hard work put into our design, our presentation and sponsorship. Now we’re looking to the National Finals and hoping to improve our design for it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be going there, so we’re really looking forward to it.”
 
Red Kite Racing were one of three teams who raced to victory at the Regional Final and will be representing their school at the F1 in Schools UK National Finals which takes place at the Big Bang Fair, ExCel, London on 15 and 16 March.
 
F1 in Schools challenges students to create their own Formula One team which is commissioned to design, construct and race the fastest miniature Formula One Car of the Future; a 21cm long scale model built from a block of balsa wood and powered by a compressed air cylinder. Each team of between three and six students creates a ‘pit’ display at the Regional Final and showcases their work in developing their race car, with a verbal and written presentation for the judges. The teams then race their model cars on a specially designed 20 metre test track, with the cars covering the distance in just over one second.
 
The competition links closely to the research of Professor Pooran Wynarczyk, of Newcastle University Business School, who studies gender within innovation, and the uptake of STEM subjects. 
 
Professor Pooran Wynarczyk, director of the Small Enterprise Research Unit at Newcastle University Business School, commented:
 
“Working with the F1 in Schools UK team to host the regional finals at the Business School is a highly valuable exercise, as it brings together research and practical learning to enhance a young person’s education.
 
“My research is all about encouraging, and increasing the uptake of, young people into the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and allowing them to realise the potential careers, and paths to such careers, that sit within these subject areas.
 
“It’s always an enjoyable and exciting atmosphere at the event for everyone, and we hope the activities of the day translate into a buzz of new ideas and enthusiasm, from the pupils, towards STEM subjects and activities.”

In addition to representing their country at the World Finals, the F1 in Schools UK Champions and runners up will receive tickets to the 2013 FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX at Silverstone. The National Champions will also win a Red Bull Racing F1 team factory tour and a TW STEEL Watch for each team member.
 
Andrew Denford, Founder and Chairman, F1 in Schools, said of this week’s North East England Regional Finals, “We’re experiencing significant growth in the schools entering the challenge this season and the standards are extremely high. The students had to cope with the nerves of presenting to a panel of judges and the pressures of putting their models to the test against the best of the region and all the teams put up a great fight, with only a few points separating the top contenders for a place at the National Finals”.
 
Denford adds, “The challenge not only tests the students in many key areas of educational study such as the STEM subjects, but gives them an opportunity to gain experience of many life skills which will be invaluable in their future careers.”
 
The North East England regional finals took place with the assistance of a host of sponsors and supporters. Amongst these are the IET, Denford, and City University London all of whom are continuing their support of F1 in Schools for the coming year.

Photos from the day can be found by clicking here >