MALAYSIA HOSTS IMPRESSIVE 2011 F1 IN SCHOOLS WORLD FINALS AND WINS TWO AWARDS
Dated: 26/09/2011
MALAYSIA HOSTS IMPRESSIVE 2011 F1 IN SCHOOLS WORLD FINALS AND WINS TWO AWARDS
The Awards Ceremony of the seventh F1 in
Schools™ World Finals was held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Kuala
Lumpur last week, in the presence of Malaysian Deputy Minister for Education,
Datuk Ir. Dr. Wee Ka Siong. The Malaysian student team, Velospeed SIC from
Sekolah Menengah Sains Hulu Selangor, celebrated winning the Team Portfolio
Award and Axis, a collaboration team from Dubai College, UAE and Aminudin Baki
Secondary School, Malaysia, were delighted to win the Team Identity Award.
F1 in Schools, a competition which runs in 34 countries around the globe, stages a World Finals event each year, drawing together the National F1 in Schools winners from each country to compete for the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy and Automotive and Motorsport Engineering degree scholarships at City University London. Kuala Lumpur first hosted a World Finals event in 2008 and its success led Andrew Denford, Founder and Chairman, F1 in Schools, to select the city to host the event for a second time this year.
He says, “We are indebted to the Malaysian Ministry of Education and Deputy Minister for Education, Datuk Ir. Dr. Wee Ka Siong, for their hospitality this week. Over 200 students from 17 countries have enjoyed the splendour of the country and the warm welcome which is given to international visitors.”
Datuk Ir. Dr. Wee Ka Siong attended the Awards Ceremony to crown the new World Champions and in his speech said of the initiative, “We need to carve a niche for ourselves for producing students of distinction and excellence. The F1 in Schools Technology Challenge is one of the learning strategies which is proven to be successful in nurturing students’ interest in the fields of science, technology and engineering. This strategy fosters the mind set of continual innovation, entrepreneurship and sportsmanship in a fun and exciting learning environment.”
Velospeed SIC, a team of four students: Asyraf
Najmie Bin Abd Rahman, Mohd Arif Azizan Abdul Jalil, Alang Ariff Asyraf
Muhammad Ghazali and Muhammad Aimran Md Noor from Sekolah Menengah Sains Hulu
Selangor, showed that they have world-class talent when they beat off tough
competition to win the Best Team Portfolio Award. Their high quality
documentation presented clearly and concisely the work that they had put into
their entry and was commended by the judges for its professionalism. The team
were sixth overall in the World Finals.
Asyraf Najmie Bin Abd Rahman, Team Manager, Velospeed SIC, reflected on the competition, “It has been an honour and a privilege to be one of the schools from the host nation and to welcome everyone to our country. We have really enjoyed showing our city to the other students and we have had a great time competing in the World Finals. We are very pleased to have won the Team Portfolio Award as we put in a lot of hard work to make this presentation very special. This week has been amazing; we have made so many new friends, shared so many memories and learned so much from the students from other countries, we will always remember this special time.”
Three students from Aminudin Baki Secondary School, Kuala Lumpur: Mr Malik Hisyam, Mohamad Izzudin Hafiz Mohamad Sukri and Muhammad Fahmi Ibrahim linked with three students from Dubai to form a collaboration team, Axis. A unique feature of F1 in Schools is the opportunity for students to join with overseas counterparts to compete together as a collaboration team at the World Finals, communicating by virtual technologies such as CISCO Webex and Skype as well as social network sites, telephone and email. It is a testament to the unity that these students achieved for them to win the Best Team Identity Award and to finish 15th in the overall points standings.
The student teams have not only taken part in the F1 in Schools World Finals during their time in Malaysia. They have also been using the opportunity to visit some of the attractions, with a special trip to Sepang International Circuit to kick off the event and a post-event treat to experience the Sunway Lagoon Theme Park. With plenty of shopping on the doorstep of the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel and the Petronas Towers as a backdrop to the World Finals, the students have been spoilt for choice to spend their leisure time in Malaysia.
The Australian team, Pentagliders, were crowned 2011 F1 in Schools World Champions at yesterday’s Awards Ceremony. They fought off intense competition, beating 22 teams from Australasia, Europe, Asia, Africa, America and the Middle East to take the title, the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy and coveted Automotive and Motorsport Engineering degree scholarships at City University London.
Runner-up to the victorious Australian team were German National Champions, BETAGREEN, from Grootmoor Gymnasium, Hamburg. Last year’s World Champions, the USA team, UNITUS Racing from South East High School, Florida and James Madison Middle School, Virginia, took third place on the podium.
The event took place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 19th – 21st September with the assistance of a host of sponsors and supporters including the Malaysian Ministry of Education, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, City University London, Denford Limited, Sepang International Circuit and Hilton Racing.
Each team of between three and six students brings together their work to present to a judging panel with a verbal and written presentation to support their model car, which is raced on a specially designed test track. At the World Finals each team takes along a pit display, three identical cars and portfolio, as well as having prepared a presentation for the judges. The cars race on a 20 metre track, with the cars covering the distance in just over one second, a speed barrier which is yet to be broken by any student team since it was set by Team FUGA from Northern Ireland at the 2007 World Finals with a time of 1.020 seconds.
