SIX students
from St. Colman’s College in Claremorris are
gearing up to take part in the Honda F1 in Schools Technology
Challenge. Their
task involves the construction of an aerodynamic model F1 car which
will be
raced against other participating schools in the east and west coast
regional
finals in February and at the national final in Dublin in March.
This is the
second year for the competition to run in Ireland
under the guidance of the
Irish Computer Society (ICS) and sponsored by Honda. Last year, St.
Colman’s
had two teams in the finals in Dublin
and one of the teams was interviewed on an RTÉ show.
The members
of the team taking part in the current challenge are Andrew Finn, John
Parsons,
Brian McDermott, Alan Benson, Bryan Carey and Keith Cawley.
The
competition is open to secondary schools nationwide, to design and
manufacture
CO2 powered model racing cars. Each car
measures about 25cm in
length. Student teams will compete against each other in a national
championship to determine the best-engineered and fastest car in Ireland.
The winning
car will be judged on speed, design and the school team’s
full project
presentation.
Each
participating school team will receive a kit which includes balsa wood
for
making the model. Ongoing support will be offered and the school will
be paired
with a Formula 1 Make Centre, a college or university with the
necessary
equipment for milling the models. This interaction with colleges will
give
students an introduction to Engineering, Science and Technology choices
at
third level. All participating schools also get free computer design
software
with which to form their creation.
John Parsons
of St.
Colman’s College say they are looking
forward to the challenge and taking on the competition. All associated
with the
inaugural venture last year enjoyed the experience and gained a clear
insight
into quality and standard of design needed to compete at top level. The
teacher
in charge of the project at the Claremorris School is
Cavan native,
Gerry Lynch.
“It
involves a real challenge for the students, but after getting a taste
of things
last year they are eagerly looking forward to it,” he said
