30 Oktober 2012 Von: Re-Engineering Australia Foundation

The day began with the 33 international teams assembled at Ferrari World to start the process of competing for the Bernie Eccelstone Trophy and the title of World Champions.

Ferrari World

The incredible venue, Ferrari World, had participants in awe at its immense size and unique structure, with many excited at the prospect of checking out the rides and attractions in between their judging schedule. But as luck would have it, the theme park’s number one attraction, the world’s fastest roller coaster was rolled to a stop for a short time as a massive sand storm blew up and a sandy haze filled the sky. Rides will have to wait until tomorrow, but to experience a sand storm on the edge of the Arabian Desert is something completely unique as part of this year’s World Championship in Abu Dhabi.

The first Assignment for the students was to set up their displays ready for the opening of Ferarri World at 10am. This became a massive exercise logistics with stickers, velcro and gaffer tape being applied to anything that didn't move.

Australian Ambassador Visits Aussie Teams

The day was made even more special by a visit by the Australian Ambassador to the UAE and Qatar, Mr Pablo Kang. He listened with interest of each team’s differing design and manufacturing challenges and achievements, and accepted the challenge to a reaction time race with Victoria’s collaboration team Spectra. His visit was a highlight of the days proceedings, inspiring the students with his words of encouragement and extending his visit to spend more time engaging with the teams.

The Championship opens with a Bang

David Croft the F1 Comentator was the compare for the opening ceremony. Special guest, Yas Marina Circuit CEO, Richard Cregan officially declared the World Championship open, and the competition got underway immediately.

By the end of the day all teams had been through the Engineering judging process, each impressing the judges with they skills and understanding of the engineering they had applied to their projects.

Racing gets underway.

Of the many areas that the teams are judged upon, a fast car still probably holds the greatest prestige. As the cars are automatically fired off down the track with the starter mechanism, the Aussie teams fared exceptionally well against their international competitors. But it was South Australian team and Australian National Champions, Cold Fusion who raced a blistering time of 1.045 and are currently sitting on top of the ladder. The other two Aussie teams are in 11th & 12th positions moving into the reaction and knock-out racing phases of the competition. Knock out racing scores will be added to the final scores, so the competition remains tight – and very exciting! 

The top 12 cars are separate by only 0.02 seconds with only 0.002 seconds between positions 6-12. What a fantastic start to the finals – Go Aussie Go!