Teams from Jesmond schools swept the board at a Formula 1-style (F1) engineering event last month, winning a magnificent seven prizes that take some into national finals.

Newcastle University hosted the F1 in Schools Northeast Regional Final on 28 November. The Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Newcastle High School for Girls, alongside 50 other STEM students created their own version of an F1 team working together in groups of three to six.

The event showcased the engineering skills of students as they raced their custom-designed miniature F1 cars on a 25-metre track.

The students were also judged on a design and engineering portfolio, a verbal presentation and enterprise portfolio, including sponsorship, social media and marketing information. 

Two Year 9 teams represented Newcastle High School for Girls: team Dynamix and team Trex. Dynamix excelled, winning four prizes in the entry class. F1 super-fan team member Hannah said: “We had issues with the 3D printing of the front and rear wings, so winning the fastest car award was an incredible, but amazing shock.”

Fellow Newcastle Girls team Trex finished top of the podium for the ‘Future Stars Award’ and ‘Research and Development Award’. Manufacturing designer, Rehaab said: “I am passionate about girls getting involved in STEM and engineering, as the teams here today are mostly boy teams.”

Rehaab added: “I want to go into engineering when I am older, my dad is a mechanical engineer and professor, so it runs in the family.”

Year 10 team Photon were representing The Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, in the professional class of the competition. The squad won the regional champions award and will progress into the national inter-school finals held the Magna Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham in March.

RGS student Peter, head of sponsorship, explained: “What I have found really interesting is that when you are designing the car, and on software when you change measurements by 0.5mm, it physically doesn’t look much different, but it makes a massive difference to the speed.”

Tom Milner, the UK project manager for F1 in Schools, said: “The competition started 23 years ago, as a STEM competition to get students into manufacturing and engineering. Now we have a presence in 60 countries around the world.”

Milner added: “It’s amazing interacting with the students; the work the kids put in and the innovation displayed is absolutely astonishing.”

For more details about F1 in Schools, and how to enter students click the information link: https://www.f1inschools.co.uk/competition.html