Newsroom

The development class team, Magnitude—made up of Year 9 students, Jackson Eastwood, Bailey Thompson, Ben Keane, Jayden Heng, and Gabriel Jones—were crowned the SA Champions at the Reunion Return of the Royal Adelaide Show. Students from across South Australian schools participated in the 2022 State Finals during the Show, some travelling from over 700 kilometres away. 

Team Magnitude is our first ever development class team to have competed in the world’s most competitive STEM challenge, with over 17,000 schools in 51 countries involved. Students design, make and race a miniature F1 car capable of reaching a top speed of 80km/h in under a second. Since its establishment in Australia in 2003, there have been approximately 22,000 students involved each year. Mimicking the world of Formula One, students work in groups as team managers, designers, engineers, and marketing experts to collaborate and create the ultimate car. 

In their debut, Magnitude won in four categories—Best Managed Enterprise, Best Team Trade Display, Best Graphic Design and Best Team Marketing. The judges were very impressed with every element of their project, and this achievement has earned Magnitude their place in the National Finals for 2023. They are on their way toward achieving their goal of becoming the World Champions of F1 In Schools. They are humble and hungry.  

“F1 In Schools was a really fun and engaging course,” said Resource Manager Jayden Heng. “I was able to learn about aerodynamics in a more in-depth way and in a simpler form.” 

Team Manager, Jackson Eastwood, said, “F1 In Schools has given me the opportunity to enhance my skills and has given me an insight into the real world.” 

F1 In Schools makes learning more relevant, rewarding, engaging, and exciting. It has a proven route to STEM career pathways in design, enterprise, engineering, marketing, and much more.  

Preparing for the two-day competition was a journey of its own, in which the group of students worked extremely diligently. The holiday sessions to design, test and develop the car. The countless hours of staying back after school to design the trade display. The early morning sessions before school and the sleepless nights to get the portfolios completed. It all came together, and as a team, they thrived. 

“I found my experience with F1 In Schools incredible,” said Graphic Designer, Gabriel Jones. “I had the chance to experiment with different technologies, such as the CNC machine and the 3D printers”.  

“F1 In Schools has improved my confidence immensely, and I hope in the future that I can improve on my skills and knowledge as well.” 

Manufacturing Engineer, Ben Keane, said, “I hope Team Magnitude wins Nationals, is given feedback and extra knowledge, and moves on to becoming World Champions.” 

And in the words of Marketing Manager, Bailey Thompson, "We started F1 as a team, but now we are a family. We are Magnitude." 

On behalf of Team Magnitude, a special and sincere thank you to the Re-Engineering Australia (REA) staff and the Royal Adelaide Show Society for organising a very exciting competition. Congratulations to the other 22 teams who competed in the competition, and we wish you all the best. Our utmost appreciation and gratitude to our sponsors—RFTEQ, Thompson Family, Fluro Skip Bins, JS Meats, Xel Graphix, Terry White Chemmart - Elizabeth Park, and CasTech 3D. Thank you to everyone who supported us and believed in us. 

Mr Mohammad Arifi (Class of 2016) | Middle/Senior Teacher