Jack Giordmaina reports on the new initiative…
Greenpower Education Trust have come together with the FIA to produce the Formula E in Schools Series which kicked off in Buenos Aires in January.
The series allows students aged between 11 and 16 to build their own fully electric kit car from scratch, which is provided by Formula E. The series focuses on teamwork and energy efficiency, as each car is fitted with an energy efficient data logger that measures the efficiency of each car. The team with the most efficient car will start the race on pole position.
The students have to stick to the kit car that has been provided for them, as no modifications are allowed to the cars that have been provided.
Greenpower run two other similar series alongside the Formula E in School Series called Formula 24 and Formula 24+.
CEO of Greenpower Jeremy Way is hopeful that the new series can become similar to the series already created.
“That’s the aim. We want to open up the championship, which will allow students to come up with their own design and produce the most efficient car possible. However, nothing has yet been confirmed with Formula E about what could happen in the future,” said Way.
Marc Priestley and Niki Shields are both ambassadors for the Formula E in Schools Series and they hosted the event at the Crystal.
Priestley, the former head mechanic for McLaren’s F1 team, believes that this is a wonderful opportunity for students to get involved in engineering at such a young age.
“This project allows children who don’t have much knowledge of engineering a chance to get a taste of it in the best possible way,” he said.
Schools will have to go through a competitive process in order to make sure that they qualify for the event. Each school that takes part in the event must be a specialist school in either science or technology, they should be in a deprived area, the school should be running a gifted and talented programme and have a number of special education students.
Once a school has been successful they will need to find a team of six students, which should be divided into an equal number of boys and girls.
As well as building the car, the students chosen must also take on a project of creating the most sustainable city. The students must focus on the economic, social and environmental impacts on their city. Once they have completed the project, the students have to either draw or take a photo of their city and explain in 500 words why their city is the most sustainable within the criteria set for them.
Another way the students can complete the project is by taking a video explaining why their city is the most sustainable city.
Schools had a short deadline to get their application in, as they had to be in by Friday 27th February for the London ePrix. The successful schools should know who they are next week as Formula E will already be sending them the car to start working on.