Formula 1

One of the challenges of being a parent of two active teens is that they want to do it all! There are many extra-curricular activities at Qatar Academy and this year Max decided to try something new. He joined the school's first-ever Formula One Club. His team is called Trofeo Qatar.

This team of Grade 10 and 11 boys met weekly to design their car, create a business plan, and seek sponsorship. This club is the updated version of Kub Kar rallies introduced by Scouts Canada. Two of the team members are design engineers who work to create an image of the finished car. Then a program called Auto Desk writes commands to the 3D printer, which produces the car from balsam wood. Max helped with the sanding and painting of the finished car -- some things still need to be done by hand! Max was also responsible for drilling the holes for the wheel axle. He has more comfort with the drill press than the others -- thanks to Grandad!

This week eight teams from different high schools in Doha raced their F1 cars in a "friendly tournament". Each race lasts less than two seconds on the 45 metre track. Max's team won this tournament and beat this year's national champions. With some modifications to the car, the team plans to compete in next year's National competition.

There was a great article in the Qatar Tribune newspaper today. You can see the article here on page 3 bottom of the page, zoom in to read.  Trofeo article in Qatar Tribune