Abbey Vocational Students Gerry Diver, Darren Doherty, Manus Darby, Emmett Doogan and Pauric Doherty, otherwise known as D5 Racing, proudly supported by Kelco Communications, pictured at the 2013 National Finals of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge, yesterday 30th of April in Griffith College, Dublin.
D5 Racing who were awarded Best Website and Best use of ICT and CAD at the Regional Finals last month went on to represent Abbey Vocational School in the National Finals yesterday.
Work for the 2013 Finals began last September with schools registering their interest in competing. Intense competition followed with 94 teams representing 63 second-level schools from across the country, battling their way through the various qualifying stages of the competition to reach the National Finals.
In addition to racing head-to-head, the competing teams were judged on the quality of engineering, portfolio, resource management, marketing, graphic design, sponsorship activities and on a verbal presentation of their work.
CEO of the Irish Computer Society Jim Friars congratulated all of the participants.
“The standard was incredibly high this year and it was amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm from both students and teachers alike. An incredible level of commitment and teamwork was displayed and the lengths that the teams went to in modelling and planning the cars were unprecedented.”
The F1 in Schools challenge, powered in Ireland by the Irish Computer Society, began as a response to a recognised skills shortage in computing and engineering, with technology courses having had experienced a significant decline in CAO applications over a number of years. However this trend has begun to change.
Said Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of the Discover Science & Engineering, Science Foundation Ireland:
“Companies requiring science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) graduates are the fastest growing sectors of the economy. It is encouraging to see an increased uptake of science and technology subjects at third level in recent years, as there continues to be a strong demand for young STEM graduates in Ireland. Discover Science & Engineering supports the F1 in Schools Challenge as it is a great way for second-level students to engage with these subjects in a fun, creative and different way. It allows them to develop their problem-solving and innovation skills, which are vital for anyone who is considering a career in this area.”
This is the ninth year running for the leading global education intiative, which now encorporates over 17,000 schools from 31 different Countries. It will be held in Austin Texas to coincide with the 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Wicklow winners, Bardahl Racing will hope to emulate the success of their former schoolmates, the only Irish team to win the World Finals, ‘The Koni Kats’ from St.David’s Secondary School in Greystones in the 2009 Finals in London.
For more information see www.f1inschools.ie and for more information on D5 Racing see www.d5racing.com.
