IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Summer 2017 | Page 70

Brentwood
Borough
School
District
Brentwood’s F1 team again advances to
the national qualifier
By: Mrs. Jennifer Hughes
Fueled by a recent win at the New York super regional on Apr. 1,
Brentwood’s current F1 in Schools team, Interstellar M1, is headed
to Texas for the national qualifier this June.
“We were very excited to be such a dominant contender at the
regional competition, but we will send little time savoring the win
because we need to prep for nationals. The team is putting in more
time to perfect each aspect of the competition to prepare the team
for a possible advancement to the world competition,” said team
manager Destinee Kellner.
The super-regional event included schools from New York, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania and was held at the Manhattan Classic Car
Club.
“The classic car club provided a professional venue where the
team gain needed experience to advance to the national stage of
competition,” said engineering teacher Beau Sedlar.
At the regional event, Interstellar M1 was named grand
champions and also won best engineered car, fastest car, best team
identity and best sponsorship and fundraising.
“We are very excited about the win in New York. It’s a confidence
boost to come in and dominate the competition the way that we
did. But we did take back some constructive criticism that we are
using to better our car, display and portfolio books,” said design
engineer Michael Casey.
68 Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall
The next step for the team is the national qualifier in Austin. The
team will race against schools from Texas, Montana and Florida. The
top three teams at the national competition will advance to the
world finals, this year held in Malaysia.
Right now, the team is spending their time updating just about
every aspect of their car, pit display and marketing materials.
Interstellar will also spend a good chunk of time creating a launch
energy recovery system (L.E.R.S.).
“The L.E.R.S. will compact the co2 coming out of the canister and
provide more forward thrust on the car. I will most likely design
a cone shape and a tube that will help hold the car starter,” said
specialist engineer Grant Davis.
A stopping system is also in development by the team. The
stopping system will catch the car at the end of the track when it
races. Which according to manufacturing engineer Ryan Schwarz is
important to slow the car and not damage it.
“An improper catching system could damage the car. Our
delicate front spoiler can easily break off our car is stopped
abruptly,” said Schwarz.
The national qualifier is June 7-11 at the Circuit of the Americas
racetrack in Austin, Texas. If you would like to keep up with the
team you can check them out on Twitter and Instagram at
@Interstellar M1.