Five bright, talented Newton Moore Senior High School engineering students are celebrating their recent achievements.
The F1 in Schools’ Professional Class – comprised of Harry Smith, Kage Geyer, Bonnie Cook, Jordan Neill and Brodie Cook – represented Newton Moore at the National Championships in Launceston, Tasmania earlier this month.
After making their way to the other side of Australia, the team had to set up its trade display within a two-hour time limit.
“We finished three minutes before the end, so it was really intense,” Smith said.
During the six-day experience, the students then met visiting engineers and got to learn more about the process.
“The better teams gave us good hints and tips about what we should do,” Bonnie said.
The teams were then judged on their verbal presentations, their trade booth, each car’s design, and each vehicle’s functionality.
The group came 14th overall out of the 19 teams participating.
They also finished in the top five for the trade display and verbal presentation categories.
“Our goal was to improve and that’s what we did,” Smith added.
Bonnie took home the Engineers Australia Highly Commended Women in STEM award for her efforts.
“I was pretty shocked...I feel really privileged to get it and it was a good feeling,” she said.
Newton Moore SHS head of Science Lorraine Ellis said the five Professional Class students had shown poise, maturity and intelligence during the competition.
“Our Year 9s and 10s are really keen to use these students as mentors,” she said. “It was incredibly rewarding to see the way they interacted with all the other teams.
“There was really strong collegiality between the Western Australian schools – they really supported each other and there was good team spirit.”
The crew achieved immense success in 2017, picking up the Innovation Award and Best Verbal Presentation at the State Championships.
They finished second, gifting them the national wildcard and entry into this year’s national championships. Find out more at rea.org.au/f1-in-schools/
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