F1 in SCHOOLS
- 20 May 2013
THURSDAY ISLAND STUDENTS EMBRACE FORMULA ONE TECHNOLOGY!
Students from Tagai State College Thursday Island Secondary Campus, on Thursday
Island north of Cape York in the Torres Strait, are about to become involved in a
worldwide Formula One design and racing competition thanks to the efforts of the
Queensland Government, local sponsors and the not-for-profit organisation, Re-
Engineering Australia Forum.
Ms Alana Baird, the REA Forum Queensland Projects Manager, says the Design and Technology
Hub will provide students with state-of-the-art 3D CATIA CAD/CAM/CAE software valued at
millions of dollars, desktop-sized smoke and wind tunnels, a computerised NC router and an
electronic 20-metre race track.
This technology will be used by the students to design, make, test and race miniature F1 style
cars in REA Forum’s nationwide Schools Innovation Design Challenge. The team which wins the
SIDC each year automatically receives entry to the worldwide F1inSchools competition…withthe next finals taking place in Malaysia. It
’s all part of inspiring the next generation to consider
innovation based careers.
She adds,
“REA has been focusing on the regional areas of Australia since the competition was launched.
In fact, our first Technology Hubs were located in country towns. We wanted to show kids that
you don’t have to live in the city to access world leading technology. And we hope that by
doing this that we can stimulate industry in more remote areas.”“
With technology like high speed broadband, email and web conferencing – provided by our
partners Telstra and Webex - designers and engineers can be located anywhere…whetherthey
’re involved in a national or a global project. That is why this technology is a part of
everything we do at REA. We have ended the tyranny of distance. We will be using Webex to
link a classroom from Cooktown State School when we do software training for 24 teachers and
students from Thursday Island Secondary Campus in the lead up to the Hub launch.”
Thursday Island Secondary Campus Acting Deputy Principal, Paul Charles, says the new Design
and Technology Hub will provide the students with an amazing opportunity to expand their
horizons,
“This Hub and the REA competition will enable our students to get involved in design, styling,
aerodynamics, finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics and manufacturing. They
are going to learn all of the disciplines that make up engineering and manufacturing. There are
even adult engineers in Australia who don’t have access to this level of technology. Not only
that, the collaboration technology will bring them closer to the mainland. They’ll be able toshare their ideas and talk to students right across Australia.
”“The Thursday Island team will have the opportunity later this year to compete in regional and
state elimination finals and, if they are good enough, go on to the SIDC National Finals. The
winner of that represents Australia in the F1inSchools World Finals.”
Adds Ms Baird,
"The Thursday Island community has developed a sense of pride in their students' achievements
and their involvement in the REA program. It is extremely encouraging to see so many young
people embracing the manufacturing and engineering technology, and it's especially great to
see an increase in number of young women embracing the opportunity to experience this
world's best technology.“
Thanks to this group of sponsors the Hub has become a reality. Funding was received from
Torres Strait Regional Authority, Black & More, Torres News, Waiben Light Marine Services,
Yorke (Masig) Island Council, and the Workplace Excellence Program’s Manufacturers’ Starter
Initiative.