Finn Harps manager and Donegal star Colm McFadden have voiced their support for the St.Eunan’s College Optimal F1 team as they get set to participate in the Ireland Schools Technology Challenge.
St. Eunan’s College have signed the team named Optimal F1 to participate in the Schools Technology Challenge [powered in Ireland by Irish Computer Society] and to date the support from the local sporting world, Donegal GAA, Finn Harps, local businesses and the entire Donegal community has been over whelming!
This will be St. Eunan’s College’s second year entering the competition last year, Sigma Racing did very well and got through to the National Final in Griffith College, Dublin.
Lucas Saava, a member of last year’s F1 in Schools team, explains why F1 in Schools was such a good challenge to participate in he said, “It was a great experience to design an F1 car, having to follow the specification and compensating for things such as CNC machine drilling capabilities.
“Also, designing a website for a business-like purpose gave me an insight into what people like to see on such websites.
Members of this year’s team Ciaran Kelly, Gavin Maguire, Caolan Vaughan, Pauraic Neely & Ayrton Kelly- will be required to make an aerodynamic model F1™ car which will be raced against other participating schools in the Regional Finals in March and National Final in April.
This is the seventh year for the competition to run in Ireland under the guidance of the Irish Computer Society (ICS) in partnership with Discover Science & Engineering.
Caolan Vaughan of St. Eunan’s College explains why their school chose to enter F1 in Schools Challenge, he said “None of us knew much about F1 in Schools, but once Mr McGinley explained a bit about it we all wanted to partake.
“I think that it’s a great thing to do because it will help us develop and working in a team will give us experience that we never really get.
“What’s more, you get a fantastic opportunity to build a car which, if good enough, could represent Ireland in another country in the World finals.
Shaun McGinley, the supervising teacher, said he thinks “this is a great competition for all students as it promotes a various number of skills that allow students to be better equipped for everyday life!”
“As of now, we’ve raised a huge amount of sponsorship and that could not have been done without the generosity of local businesses and their management.
Gavin Maguire was overwhelmed after receiving sponsorship from Mercedes-Benz Ireland.
“We received our first cheque from Mercedes-Benz Ireland, which was a big deal in a sentimental kind of way.
“Optimal F1 would also like to thank The Four Lanterns and Kelly’s Centra, Letterkenny and to all the businesses that have sponsored us.
“Their contribution is truly appreciated – it will now go towards ordering in specialized parts for the car such as the airfoils, wheels and bearings.
“Optimal F1 looks forward to participating in the Regional Finals in GMIT in March and would once more like to thank all our sponsors to date.
The F1 in Schools Challenge is an international competition which now attracts more than 90,000 students across the world in a frenzied dash to design, build and ultimately race model Formula 1 cars powered by compressed air canisters.
If any other businesses would like to sponsor Optimal F1, please email optimalf1@yahoo.com.
Visit www.F1inSchools.ie for more information on the Challenge and we would be delighted if you would follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with our progress.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Optimal-F1/1376384949267040