Art & Technology

9/10 Integrated Systems Engineering

Our Year 9 & 10 Systems Engineering class jumped right into things this week, designing and building their own cardboard automata as a way to show off their interests (and sneakily learn a bit of engineering at the same time!). 

Students started by learning a bit about how cams and followers work to change rotation into a whole range of different types of motion - like up and down, side to side, and spinning.  They then came up with some different ideas for designs, including drawing these up, before selecting their favourite and planning how they could build it. 

Finally, they got to work with some simple tools like drills and hot glue guns to create their automata out of cardboard and recycled materials. 

It was great to see students engaged, getting creative, and really challenging themselves, we can't wait to see what the rest of the semester has in store!

Hydrogen Grand Prix Race Day

This year, Wantirna College has been fortunate enough to be involved in the Horizon Educational Hydrogen Grand Prix competition, where students design, build, and race remote control cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. 

A small team of VCE Systems Engineering students have spent the past 6 months building, testing, and modifying their car in preparation for the Victorian Final, which was held this week. 

Bright and early on Tuesday morning, six Year 11 Systems Engineering students got themselves to school in time for the bus across town to the Toyota Centre of Excellence in Altona, where the race was to be held. 

The day started with Tech Checks, where teams looked over their cars, double-checked that everything was in order, and had all of their equipment checked by the race officiators. Teams then presented their work and the process they had gone through for the past 6 months to the officials. 

Finally, there was the chance for some practice laps, before the race officially began at 11am. The Wantirna Hydro Wizards started strong, and for nearly half the race (two hours!) managed to hold a place in the top three, competing against 16 other teams from all over Victoria, and even some teams from Sydney! 

Throughout the two hours, the team worked closely together, maintaining constant communications between the driver, the pit crew, the spotter, and the team captain, and keeping track of things like lap times, collisions, and when to swap over fuel cells and batteries to optimise their energy usage. 

Sadly, at the halfway mark, the team ran into technical difficulties. For nearly an hour, the team persevered in trying to repair the car and did everything they could to get it back on the track, working closely with, and getting support from, the official Tech Crews. Ultimately, however, they were forced to withdraw from the race - though they were far from the only ones. 

In the end, Wantirna's strong work at the start landed them a top-10 finish (5th place if you only count the Victorian teams!). This is an incredible achievement for a first-time team competing against a number of other schools for whom this was their second year. 

Although we didn't come away with a prize, it was an amazing opportunity, and truly inspiring to see the teamwork, perseverance, and resilience shown by all students on the day and throughout the year.  The afternoon was filled with talks and plans for what they can do to improve for next year's competition! 

Congratulations to all students involved, and especially the team on the day: Bentan House, Tony Nguyen, Lachlan Peck, Lachlan Rich, and Phoenix Rigano.

Claire Baillie

Co-Leader of Art & Technology