UAE STUDENTS CELEBRATE AWARD SUCCESS AT 2011 F1 IN SCHOOLS WORLD FINALS
Dated: 25/09/2011
UAE STUDENTS CELEBRATE AWARD SUCCESS AT 2011 F1 IN SCHOOLS WORLD FINALS
Team RedShift, a team from Dubai College, and
Axis, a collaboration team of students from Dubai College and Aminudin Baki
Secondary School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, celebrated after winning awards
at the 2011 F1 in Schools™ World Finals held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last
week.
Team RedShift, with team members Dominic Palubiski, Mustafa Shaikh, Rahul Ngarwal (Dungarwal) and Shounak Dudas were the winners of the Innovative Thinking Award, receiving the Lotus Renault GP Trophy, with the judges commending the team on their superb rear wing design which showed the depth of thought put into developing the team’s car design. Axis won the Best Team Identity Award, with the Ferrari F1 team trophy presented to them.
Shounak Dudas, Team Manager, Team RedShift, said of competing at the F1 in Schools World Finals, “Winning an award has been a bonus to what was already a fantastic experience in Malaysia. We have had an amazing time, which has been a mixture of lots of pressure, late nights working and long days competing, together with the fun of meeting new people, getting to see how other teams have prepared for the competition, making new friendships and having the opportunity to visit a very different country. It’s been an amazing week.”
Andrew Denford, Founder and Chairman, F1 in Schools, says of the team’s success, “This year’s F1 in Schools World Finals has been the most competitive in the history of the programme and all the teams have risen to the challenge admirably. The UAE students should be very proud of their achievements as there were only four nations who won more than one award. As ambassadors for their country and of F1 in Schools, they are excellent and demonstrate just how beneficial it can be to compete in the Challenge. I’m sure they will all go on to have further success in their careers ahead.”
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.
Runners-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.
