Six Malaysian teenagers from three schools across three states are confident of winning the F1 in Schools World Finals in Saudi Arabia from Nov 22-28.
The six who make up Valour SP are 15-year-olds Faris Aryan Faizul, Muhammad Fauzan Sulaiman, Adam Rayyan Abdul Azim, and Syed Shazryl Arief Syed Atief from Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (SAS), 16-year-old Kasih Nurdeena Badrulzaman from Tunku Kurshiah College, and 14-year-old Muhammad Amin Mohd Hariz of Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman.
This marks the first time in the competition’s history that a team is made up of students from three schools. Typically, teams come from a single school, though it’s not unusual for two schools – from the same country or different ones – to join forces for the Grand Finals.
F1 in Schools is an educational project that started in 1999 to introduce students to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects by designing, testing, and racing miniature F1 cars using advanced 3D software like Autodesk Fusion 360.
Teams from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Europe will participate in Saudi Arabia, and Valour SP’s unprecedented collaboration highlights the competition’s spirit of teamwork and innovation.
Faris Aryan, Valour SP’s team principal, said communication was an issue as the SAS students are in Putrajaya, while Kasih Nurdeena is in Bandar Baru Enstek, Negeri Sembilan, and Muhammad Amin in Ipoh, Perak.
“We initially had difficulty communicating as a single unit (when they started in July), but through teamwork and trust in each other, we have overcome that barrier. We are on the right track,” said Faris Aryan.
“Although there is slightly over a month left to the World Finals, the six of us are confident of emerging champions in Saudi Arabia.
“We have had great support from our teacher (Herlina Syafrudin) and the school.”
Their confidence level was boosted by a recent three-day ‘boot camp’ at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam, where all six members had a chance to meet, discuss, and refine their projects under the guidance of experienced mentors, some of whom were judges at previous World Finals.
“The one thing we wanted going into the World Finals was to get the best feedback on our portfolio, our project elements, our digital media, the car,” said Adam Rayyan, the team’s design engineer.
“Besides the advice, guidance, and feedback, we also had the opportunity to do a lot of engineering testing by putting our model in industrial wind tunnels used by real engineers, and materials testing, which we never had for the National Finals.”
Syed Shazryl Arief, the team’s marketing manager, said his role was to find sponsors to make the trip to Saudi Arabia possible.
“It costs RM10,000 per head for the flight tickets and accommodation, and we needed another RM20,000-RM30,000 for the project,” said Syed Shazryl Arief, previously the team’s digital media manager.
“I’m excited to be promoted as the marketing manager this year. We had many brainstorming sessions, and our parents and the school have been of great help.”
The team has managed to get sponsorship from Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology, Abble Dairies Sdn Bhd, TRC Synergy Berhad, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad, Ideaid Sdn Bhd, Haka CLO PLT, and Iskandar Investment Berhad.
Muhammad Fauzan, the team’s manufacturing engineer, said: “My job is to make the newly machined model move and look like an F1 car. It takes time, effort, and plenty of testing and money. Hopefully, we can get more funding to help our cause.”
Kasih Nurdeena, the team’s resource manager, and Muhammad Amin, Valour’s graphic designer, said they were looking forward to meeting their teammates early next month to finalise the project.
Faris Aryan said the team needs to complete its portfolios by Oct 18 to be reviewed by officials from the Education Ministry.
“Once everything is approved, we will manufacture the finished product by Nov 15,” he said.
The SAS quartet also paid tribute to Herlina, for her guidance since they were in Form 1.
“When we were in Form 1, we had no idea about F1 in Schools. But we heard about this cool engineering project under Formula One,” said Faris Aryan.
“We then approached Cikgu Herlina about it. After some discussions and an interview, the four of us formed a team.
“We have never gone past the national competitions, but I believe we can win the World Finals this year to make Malaysia proud.”
Meanwhile, Herlina thanked the team for their efforts and admitted it was not easy to get funding.
“It is a proud moment for the school to see our name among the teams in the World Finals. The four of them and our two other teammates have worked hard on the project,” she said.
“It was a challenge to get the money, but we managed to get some sponsors. The school gave some funds via the Parents Teachers Association. I’m confident they will do well in Saudi Arabia.”
Main image: Herlina with her students Adam Rayyan (left), Faris Aryan (sitting), Muhammad Fauzan and Syed Shazryl Arief in their workshop, conducting online discussions with Kasih Nurdeena and Muhammad Amin.
