Dubai: It’s astonishing to see kids as young as 10 years old speak about auto engineering, technology and designing cars. Put them into it and they come out with flying colours matching the qualities as good as qualified technicians.
The Team Dark Lightning from the JESS Arabian Ranches school did just that and proved to be a class apart when they won the F1 in Schools UAE National Primary Championship held at the Yas Marina Formula 1 Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
“The learning involved in this entire process is massive. The sponsorship, branding and marketing and for these young guys getting their head around the business world is such a big thing. They really worked hard as a team,” said their teacher Jason Howorth.
The seven-member team, consisting of Reese Murugan (Team Manager), Adam Ghoussein (Manufacturing Engineer), Raphael McGum (Design Engineer), Finley Bettsworth (Resource Manager), Maxwell Inglis (Resource Manager), Matthew Hill and Zane Alsalih (Graphic Designers), beat 16 schools to emerge the champions.
“The boys have been working on it since September. First it was for the internal competition which they won,” Howorth added. “They gained lot of experience before going to the national championship which helped and by the time they went there they were confident and did a great job.”
The team also worked extensively on the car with Adam playing a key role in it which fetched them the Best Engineered Car award.
“I’m quite comfortable using the CAD software. I did a lot of research and came up with an innovative design. We also matched it with our team colours and our theme ‘Dark Lighting,’” said Adam.
They also used to meet regularly after school hours to work on the project since September. “We used to meet one hour after school every Monday and also sometimes at each others home and the golf club,” said Murugan.
The boys also decided about donating the excess amount they got from the sponsorship to a charity.
