A talented team of school students are in the final stages of practice after racing through to the national final of a major motorsport design competition.
Five bright sparks, all Year 10 pupils at The King’s School Worcester, are fine-tuning the car they built under the banner of Prism Racing for the F1 in Schools Professional Class competition.
Proudly sponsored by Worcester-based The Key Safe Company, the team’s F1 scale car burned past 31 rivals at the regional heat to qualify in pole for the national final at Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham.
The winner of the UK National Finals will receive a full scholarship to study Mechanical Engineering at Aston University and also get to compete at the Aramco F1 in Schools World Finals, a global competition held annually alongside an international F1 Grand Prix.
As part of the UK tournament, sponsored by Lenovo, teams aren’t just scored on the speed of their cars in drag races. Their project management, branding and marketing campaigns also come into the equation in presentations to industry professionals and, in some cases, F1 team members.
As well as sponsoring the Team, The Key Safe Company's Engineering Team volunteered time to mentor the students, who have selected Engineering as their chosen career path and wanted to discuss ideas with experts in this field.
Aron Gijsel, 14, has led that area of expertise for Prism Racing, even producing a website and newsletters as well as securing sponsorship for the team.
“Our marketing strategy was to focus on businesses in the area that mirrored our ethos and values of the STEM industry,”
Aron explains.“The Key Safe Company was one of the companies I emailed and they returned with a really positive response. From that, we arranged a team meeting and secured sponsorship for the regional round.
“Then, for the national round, we invited them to our school where we pitched our car, our ideas and how we can be better for the national finals.”
Aron says the whole experience has been ‘incredibly fun’ and invaluable from a learning perspective.
“I've gained many skills in marketing, teamwork, and engineering, aligning with my personal passions and inspiring me, with a future career in this industry in mind,” he said.
“I have found this experience to be extremely educational and every moment dedicated to this project has been truly rewarding. I look forward to the future of Prism Racing!"
Kelly Woodhouse, customer service manager at The Key Safe Company, has been ‘seriously impressed’ by Prism Racing’s budding young entrepreneurs and mechanics.
“We wish them the best in the upcoming UK National Finals,” Kelly said.
“As a UK-based enterprise that designs and engineers market-leading products, we’re proud to be supporting this STEM initiative, with a focus on inspiring the future generation of British engineers.”
Check out the Prism Team’s impressive, self-developed website to find out more.