Technology Department News

Formula Student Track Day

On Friday 7 October, the Year 11 Certificate II Engineering Pathways students participated in the Formula Student Track Day at Lakeside Park as part of their senior course. This is the first year that the course has been introduced to Marist College Ashgrove and as such, the first time the students have participated in such an event.

This event is normally the culmination of two years of hard work producing and assembling components for the Le Mans race car. This involves 100’s of hours of written and video instruction, interpreting plans, project management, welding, machining, fabricating and assembling at a professional level where accuracy is paramount. After the race car is prepared, the event starts with setting up the pits, driver briefing and last-minute checks on the car.

There were 20 schools involved, 35 cars on the track and Marist were as high as 8th on the day but slipped to 13th due to some mechanical issues that emerged. It was really amazing to see the students working together as a team and this just reinforces how important every aspect of the course is completed with this in mind. I was really impressed with how enthusiastic the boys were for the whole 6-hour event. We have all learnt a great deal from this event and will take that experience forward and will strive to achieve better next year.

A very special thanks must go to William Burkitt (Boarding Supervisor) for his invaluable help with the final detailing and trim painting on the race car. Thanks also to Mr Peter Gaiter for his support on the day and to Blair Whitlock for transporting the Boarders to and from the venue.