TRANSITION year students from St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls and St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys in Cabra have become the first schools to successfully join forces in a bid to win the
‘Formula 1 in Schools Technology Challenge’.
The schools formed two teams,
‘DeaFurious’ and
‘Shooting Shark’ – each with members from both schools – and recently learnt to their delight that both managed to get through to the qualifying round of the prestigious competition, which is run by the Irish Computer Society in partnership with SFI Discover.
Clearly driven by the internal competition between them, both teams submitted five-page plans outlining their ideas for the challenge. The next stage is to make an aerodynamic model F1 car that will be raced against other participating schools in the regional finals in March and, hopefully, the national final in April.
The teams will receive kits that includes balsa wood for making the model, and the school will be paired with a Formula 1 Make Centre, either a college or university, that has the necessary equipment for milling the models.
This interaction with colleges will give students valuable exposure to engineering, science and technology choices at third level as the participating colleges will offer their paired teams the opportunity to visit their facilities for design tutorials, to show models being made and cars being tested.
All participating schools also get free computer design software with which to build their creation.
Although this is the sixth year of the challenge and the second time St Mary’s School has entered the competition, it’s the first time they have collaborated with another school.
Shauna Murphy of St Mary’s School and team DeaFurious explained why their school chose to enter F1 in Schools Challenge.
“I find the project very interesting, I really like the way the team works together and learns new skills such as using Computer Aided Design (CAD) and communications, and it is building our confidence,
? she said.
Edward Barr from St Joseph’s and Team Shooting Shark added:
“I find the project engaging. I really like the way the teams interact competitively with each other.
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Both teams would like to thank their sponsors, Irish Deaf Society (IDS) and Irish Deaf Youth Association (IDYA), and both schools.
Co-ordinating teachers for the challenge are Maggie Owens and Flor O’Mahony St Mary’s School and St Joseph’s.