Wheeler High School has an F1 in Schools team, named Team Mu Racing, who, in their first competition ever, placed second. This first competition was the 2016 US/Canada National Championships in Michigan.
F1 in Schools is an international engineering competition based around developing, conceptualizing, designing, manufacturing, and testing a model F1 car. Teams are judged on their engineering designs, engineering process, technical writing, marketing and business strategies, and overall car performance. Each team may have up to six members who create model F1 cars that are manufactured out of a dense foam block to be raced down a 20 meter track. The model car is powered by a compressed CO2 cartridge punctured at launch, accelerating the model at up to 14 G’s.
This six-member team consists of Ajinkya Sawant, Ari Satinoff, Sarfaraz Syed, Nathanael Tappin, Kia Safai, and Jonathan Shoemaker, all who are seniors at the Center for Advanced Studies at Wheeler High School.
The boys started this team all on their own during junior year. It had been a while since Wheeler had a team participate so they took it upon themselves to move forward and see what they could do. Most of the other teams at the national competition were veterans and had been to previous competitions. Team Mu did not compete at a regional competition since there were not enough schools in the SE region to even have a competition. National was a three-day event. They did not have a lot to show, but what they did have was simple and to the point. They made such a big impression on one of the judges that he has now taken them under his wing and is an advisor to Team Mu.
Since placing at the national championships, they have been working very hard preparing for the F1 in Schools World Finals, October 14-23 in Austin, Texas. Check out their website www.mu-racing.ga for an in-depth look at the team, all they have accomplished in a short period of time, what their plans are for Worlds, and learn about sponsorships.
The costs involved in what they are trying to accomplish is a major feat itself. Each required part has a cost: each individual piece of the car, the 3D printing of the car parts (and multiple designs are needed to get to the final product), the display at the competition, the marketing plan/research presentation booklet, and then travel, hotel, meals and just even the registration fee for the competition when all added up costs tens of thousands of dollars.
The team hopes the local community will help sponsor their trip to the world finals. The team is accepting tax-deductible donations at www.wheelermagnetfoundation.com/magnet-courtyard-beautification-project to help with the costs to participate in World Finals. You can even purchase a Team Mu t-shirt for a small amount. No donation is too small. Make sure you click “F1 in Schools” in the drop down menu for Donation Type.
To continue what they started, Team Mu is also encouraging, mentoring, and training younger Wheeler students how to participate in the F1 in Schools program, start their own teams, and build it up so there can be enough teams in the Southeast to allow for a regional competition in the future. They are hoping that other schools in Cobb County, and within the metro Atlanta area, hear about them and decide it is something they want to start. For more information about F1 in schools or Team Mu, email f1.team.mu@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared in the EAST COBBER October 2016 issue.
