The race to excel

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MOST teens have big dreams and long-awaited expectations of their future, including the day they finally reach legal age to drive a car for the first time.

NEW DESIGN: The model car is powered by compressed carbon dioxide in a cartridge.

Four friends are sharing the same excitement about cars but it goes beyond driving one. They are building one.

The all-girl team Excel Vision from SMK Batu Lintang is going to represent the state in the annual F1 in Schools Technology Challenge from Nov 14 to 16 at Titiwangsa Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

The competition, co-organised by the Education Ministry, Petronas and F1 in Schools Sdn Bhd, serves to promote interest in science and technology among students.

It challenges students to design, construct and race their own miniature Formula One car of the future. This is where they pit their skills and knowledge against each other in an exciting setting.

Excel Vision comprises current Fourth Formers of the school — team manager and manufacturing engineer Dorothea Chin, resource manager Azwanina Shahizan, design engineer Nur Amirah Nasrudin and graphic designer Nur Rafeeqkha     Sulaiman.

According to teacher-   in-charge Haryati Mohd Sarkawi, this is the fourth year since 2007 that SMK Batu Lintang teams made it to the national level of the challenge. It is one of the many competitions that has raised SMK Batu Lintang’s reputation over the years.

“In 2007, team Light Speed was placed 15 out of 30-odd teams and won the Best Marketing and Sponsorship Award. The following year, the original team Excel Vision won fourth placing while last year’s team Chronos Breaker came third and won the Best Marketing and Sponsorship Award. It’s obvious our performance level is improving each year,”     she said.

This year, 33 teams from schools all over the country will be vying for the first prize and the winning team will also represent Malaysia at the international level next year.

“Our aim is to be the first team from Borneo to represent Malaysia,” said team member Azwanina.

It took them a month or so to set up team Excel Vision, named after the 2008 team, which Haryati believes is a milestone for future teams to excel.

“In this competition, the team is a company and the product is the car. Students need to design the fastest model car using Computer-Aided Design software following very strict rules and regulations.

“After the designs are out, it’s time to make the model out of balsa wood. Later, they have to come up with a portfolio and presentation to promote their custom-built car,” she explained.

She noted that the major challenge faced by SMK Batu Lintang is that it is not a manufacturing centre — meaning the school does not have its own Computer Numerically-Controlled machinery to cut and produce the model cars.

They usually have to send their design for cutting at other schools — SM Sains, SMK Matang Jaya or SMK Petra Jaya — that have the machine.

The process takes up to two hours to complete.

During the finals, all teams will ‘race’ their cars on a straight 20-metre track. The cars are powered by compressed carbon dioxide loaded in a cartridge at the back of the cars.

The cars will then be judged on their speed and time reaction.

Teams are assessed on not just the final car product but also many other criteria. These include team formation, sponsorship, research, design and manufacturing.

There are three awards up for grabs — the Best Engineered Car Award, the Best Team Identity Award and the Best Marketing and Sponsorship Award.

Team Excel Vision managed to rope in RM14,000 worth of funding — thanks to its sponsors SRD Bina, Instacom Construction, Plaza Merdeka, 360 Hotel Group, Taiyo Yuden and Modern Scientific.

Swinburne University of Technology and IICT Technology lent their creative expertise to the team while The Borneo Post, thesundaypost, Utusan Borneo, Cats FM and The Star are the media sponsors.

According to the girls, the tremendous support from sponsors is more than what they initially expected.

“We started by sending out proposals and making appointments to give presentations on what we are doing, and highlighted to everyone on how we got to be state champions. We managed to convince our sponsors, which is a good sign,” Dorothea said.

The team took the initiative to set up a blog (http://excelvisionf1.blogspot.com) to gain more exposure and support from friends and the general public. They are even planning a future blind-friendly mostly-audio site (http://www.excelvisionf1.com) to help promote more public awareness about F1 in Schools Challenge.

“Actually, winning aside, the entire process of preparing for this competition is a very positive thing for the students. We could see the positive changes to the students and how confident they are in presenting their ideas and it hones their public relation skills,” Haryati noted.

From the looks of things, team Excel Vision are definitely all revved up to excel and make their school and state proud as they head over to KL for the national finals.