A team of Blue Mountains Grammar students has taken out the national titles in the F1 in Schools competition in Melbourne and will now head to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in November to vie for the international title.
Principal Ian Maynard said the school had been "celebrating the incredible achievement" this week.
"They are now the best in Australia, which of course is an extraordinary feat.
"With this win, Thrust Vector has qualified to represent Australia against the best STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths] students worldwide... the team now has the dual tasks of preparing their international campaign and raising sufficient funds [in excess of $50,000] to realise their dream."
The five Year 10 design and technology students -graphic designer Matthew Foster, design engineer Nicholas Hayes, team manager Mirah Larkin, manufacturing engineer Fin Hastie and marketing manager Zach Burgess - built the nation's best miniature car, capable of speeds over 100km/hr.
Just 20 centimetres long, 6.5 cm wide and five cms high, it weighed about 50 grams and had been able to complete the 20-metre track in just 1.185 seconds. Design techniques like a tapered rear, airflow channels and front wing support made it as fast as possible.
Described as the largest and most successful school-based STEM program in the world, the competition challenges students to learn about physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacture, graphics, marketing, leadership and teamwork, media skills and finance. It is organised by the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation.
There had been "more than 18 versions and sub versions" developed in the ten months of the competition, which involved winning regionals, state and then the nationals. They worked after school, on weekends and in the school holidays under the guidance of teacher Michael Laws.
This is the fourth time in four years that a BMGS team has qualified for the state finals and the second successive year of qualifying for the national finals.
At last year’s national competition, in Tasmania, Clutch Control finished 3rd overall, narrowly missing out on a place in the international competition. That team, now in Year 11, acted as mentors for this year's young winners.
Both Fin and Nicholas are already hoping they can learn from the program and work towards careers in the car industry, as previous entrants have done.
Zach said they had been "the dark horse" in the competition and were "more relaxed throughout" than other competitors. But it had also meant "late nights, hard work and practice, practice, practice".
Mr Laws said the school "had been on the cusp of something and learnt from their mistakes in the previous competitions".
The team has been honing their media experience and appeared on Sky News to talk about the win. They are fundraising for their trip to cover entry fees, airfares, etc, at thrustvectorracing.com.
