AGE IS NO BARRIER The Stingers are only 13 and 14 years of age and were by far the youngest team. They had impressed in the "Schools Innovation Design Challenge" national final at the end of 2005 by winning the Junior category and beating every Senior team. They repeated the feat in England. The Stingers were critiqued by a panel of judges and scored highly across eight categories including car design, innovation, technical portfolio, verbal and multi-media presentation, static display, team marketing and car speed. Their bumble bee colored racer was voted "Best Designed Car In The World." They received this prize from the President of one of the world’s largest software companies. The other team came from Cheltenham Girls High School, Sydney, and they won "Most Innovative Design In The World". The year 11 students who call themselves "Brisk In Pink" were the inaugural national champions of the "Schools Innovation Design Challenge" in 2004. Their car featured a radical wing on the nose which was rapid prototyped by the CONCENTRIC Advanced Manufacturing Facility.
It was the second year in a row that this award had gone to Australia.
$1,500,000 SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE
As an indication of the magnitude of this competition, "The Stingers" have each received three year scholarships to study automotive engineering at the top university in London. The combined prize is valued at 100,000 pounds Sterling per child (est. $AU1.5M).
The scholarship was especially meaningful for Alexander and Lachlan Nunn whose great-grandfather won the prestigious Whitworth Scholarship in 1910 for the best engineering student in England, and he went on to study at an English university. "The Stingers" also won a huge (heavy!) trophy which they are bringing back to Australia on the plane, automatic entry to defend their world title at the next International Finals, and a workstation for their school. STUDENTS TO MEET "GODFATHER OF FORMULA ONE" Becoming world champions is going to be one of many highpoints of this two week trip. Plans are underway for the Australian teams to get the opportunity of a lifetime to meet the most influential man in Formula One motor sport, Bernie Ecclestone. Then it’s on to Paris to take part in the 25th anniversary celebrations of leading software developer, Dassault Systemes. The youngest CATIA software designers in the world will be on centre stage in a star-studded function which is being broadcast live on national French television. From there the pace will change with technology site visits (including aerospace engineering corporation, GKN), EuroDisney and sightseeing before returning to Australia on January 26th.
"THEY SAID IT WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL"
Year 8 student Matthew Nirenberg, team manager of "The Stingers", says "We are shocked and happy. The competition was so close, so well matched. We were hoping to get fastest car but we scored well on our car design, display, portfolio, verbal presentation and uniform." " I have always wanted an engineering career with CATIA and this scholarship will open up all kinds of career paths for me."
Senior car designer and year 7 student Alexander Nunn says, "It was a really tough competition. What was really exciting was the lead up to it. We were really busy over the Christmas holidays fine tuning things and getting ourselves ready. Then it was just doing our best on the day."
His cousin and fellow year 7 student Lachlan Nunn added, "The level of presentation was very high but we were better. We heard we got high marks in the verbal presentation. They said it was very professional."
Year 7 students Doug Lucas and Gareth Maddock are already looking ahead to the scholarship.
"It will be an automatic door opener to whatever I want to do", says Doug, "It’s what I’ve dreamed of doing, getting into the automotive industry." Gareth echoes the sentiment, "This competition has opened up opportunities for me when I leave school. I like designing cars mostly. I’d like to be a Formula One designer and be on a Formula One team."
Brisk in Pink & The Stingers with their teachers; Paul Wilson, Barb Duncan, Peter Clinton & Steve Sandford.
TEACHERS HAVE THEIR SAY
Trinity Grammar teacher Peter Clinton was there to witness the historic win, "It’s great! Amazing! We were expecting good track times with the car, but didn’t. We heard them announce fastest car, third, second, and we felt a bit down. Then they announced us as world champions…it was euphoric!"
"The boys’ passion shone through. They scored well in a lot of areas. All the extra research throughout the year really paid off. And it showed that age was no barrier. I think we really raised the standard. In future I think the other teams will have to do well in all areas not focus on a few."
"We’re astounded. Ever since we started in the REA Challenge we have won each level, and now we’re best in the world. It’s just fantastic!"
Barbara Duncan, a teacher from Bentleigh Secondary College in Melbourne who has
been instrumental in the growth of the REA program in Victoria, agrees, "The
atmosphere was awesome. The International Finals were part of a major
technology show. We were in a venue about four times bigger than the MCG. The
kids were amazing. The standards were higher than ever before. The two teams
really bonded and were so supportive of each other. It was an amazing day."
"The Schools Innovation Design Challenge from REA is the best thing that
has ever happened in schools. We have the kids pushing the teachers. They
have such a thirst for knowledge. The desire to compete, to keep improving,
the technology, working together as a team... they are such great preparation
for going into the workforce. It doesn’t get any better than this. "
NEW WORLD SPEED RECORD
At the SIDC National Finals "The Stingers" broke the world record and established a new unofficial time of 1.133 seconds, however they were unable to better that in England. Eventually the Malaysians set a sizzling 1.004 seconds which is now the time to beat in 2006.
INDUSTRY SUPPORT
The opportunity to send both the 2004 and 2005 SIDC National Champion teams plus teachers to the International Finals in the U.K. was made possible via special funding from REA Forum partners. Intel (CATIA/other software used by the students for car design and virtual testing, as well as long-distance collaboration technology, operate on computer hardware with Intel’s world renowned computing platforms) and Dassault Systemes made considerable contributions. Joining them were Boeing, GKN Aerospace, Toyota, Victoria University and the Local Government Engineers Association.
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