Over Thursday and Friday of Week 1 this term, Riverside High School had six teams competing in the State F1 in Schools Challenge. Two teams competed in the Professional Category for teams who have competed before, and four teams in the Development Category for the teams in their first full year of competing.

On Thursday, teams submitted their printed portfolios for judging on content and presentation, along with their cars which were scrutinised to ensure they did not breach any of the many dimensions specified in the competition rules.

Teams also had a two-hour period to construct a professional trade display to promote their team and sponsors of the competition.

On Friday, teams competed in reaction-based racing with their cars along with interviews for their engineering and CAD understanding, their trade display and a 10-minute presentation about their team.

At the end of the day, Riverside High School had some outstanding results across both divisions.

In the Professional Division:

• Zenith (Ethan, Nina, Lucas and Charlie) finished first. 

• Nemesis (Asya, Addison, Mia and Satadev) finished third.

In the Development Category,

• Bluefin (Nina, Alice, Millie and Louis) finished first. 

• Visionary (April, Breanna and Yuxuan) finished second.

Bluefin also had the highest total score of the event which was an outstanding achievement.

Over the course of the two days, all teams performed extremely well and showcased all of their work over the last few months.

For this event to occur, the financial support of Bell Bay Aluminium and organisational help from Lou Clark have been crucial to the success of this event over many years and hopefully into the future.

In addition to our teams competing, there was a fantastic group of students who came along to support the event on each day. James, Nandali, Will, Dan, Bea and Lucy assisted in aspects of judging, organising teams and helping with the efficient racing of the students’ cars. Their mature and responsible approach over the two days certainly contributed to a very successful event.

Richard Gregory & Annette McCarthy