News

Trinity team sweeps F1 in Schools Championship

A team of four Trinity students has won the 2017 F1 in Schools World Championship, held in Malaysia.

Hugh Bowman (Year 11), Kyle Winkler (Year 11), David Greig (Year 10) and Alec Alder (Year 9) were presented with the World Champions Trophy by Formula 1 Group Chief, Chase Carey, in Kuala Lumpur.

F1 in Schools is the world’s leading Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) competition with 9 million students engaged globally. The World Finals in Malaysia brought together 276 competing students in 51 teams from 34 Nations.

Competing as Team Hyperdrive, the boys designed and manufactured a miniature F1 car using industry-standard 3D design, CNC milling and aerodynamics software packages. Just like a real Formula 1 team, they collaborate with Industry and Universities sought sponsorship to fund their project, including their travel to the competition in Malaysia.

Each team is required to produce highly detailed and technical portfolios, and entries are judged on a range of criteria including innovative design, manufacture tolerance and finish quality, speed, marketing, and presentation skills.

The boys’ win confirms Trinity’s position as one of the leading STEM schools in Australia. Indeed, Trinity is the only school ever in the history of the competition to win two World Championships. Overall, Australian teams have dominated the F1 in Schools Challenge, winning five World Champions and many podium positions.

Hyperdrive not only won the overall championship with student scholarships in engineering at City University of London, but also took home the prestigious Best Engineered Car Award, as well as a nomination for the Research and Development Award. Team member, Kyle Winkler, was selected as one of 10 students to participate in the Williams Formula One Randstad Engineering Academy – an elite training program providing access to mentorship by Williams race engineers, as well as experience working on real-life engineering projects.

Trinity Grammar has an exceptional Design and Technology faculty, offering accelerated learning opportunities and access to the latest industry standard design and manufacturing technologies including CAD/CAM software CATIA (used by Airbus, Boeing, McLaren F1 and many others), Autodesk, 3D printing, CNC milling, Laser cutting and engraving, smoke tunnels and wind tunnels (real and virtual CFD).

The entire Trinity community is exceedingly proud of team Hyperdrive’s outstanding results in the F1 in Schools competition. Their success is the result of many hours of hard work and dedication. We look forward to the boys and their teacher returning home to Australia and celebrating their achievements.

To read more about team Hyperdrive click here.