UAE Teens Build 80 km/h Mini F1 Car for STEM Finals
UAE teens mini F1 car. A group of visionary students from a Dubai school have produced a mini F1 car that wowed the judges at the F1 in Schools UAE National Finals. Team Founders designed and built the car while adhering to all project constraints.
CO₂ Cartridge Powers High-Speed Racing
Their miniature racing car uses one 8g CO₂ cartridge to propel it down the track. It speeds down a 20-meter track in just over a second. It was completely made by students and is an example of how real-world STEM skills can produce speed.
Design Driven by Precision and Inspiration
The team founders were attentive to aerodynamic accuracy during the design process. Hannan Ali, a Year 12 student and the team’s head of enterprise, stated the car has the dimensions of 209 mm in length, 61 mm in width and 70 mm in height with a weight of 50.1 grams—beyond the point of weight minimization. The students reduced drag and friction while improving stability by studying the shape of the human body by borrowing ideas from the streamlined body of an eagle. They also investigated F1 in Schools teams with winning designs and professional motorsports, such as Formula 1 and NASCAR, in order to develop their own design.
Built with Industry-Standard Tools
The team constructed the car using Fusion 360, a high end CAE/ CAD/ CAM software. They subsequently tested and enhanced the aerodynamic performance using Ansys CFD simulations. The software provided the students with high level tools that allowed them to optimize every curve and contour for speed and efficiency.
Real-World Skills Meet Classroom Innovation
The F1 in Schools competition allows students to blend knowledge from the classroom with real-world engineering problems. Team Founders’ mini F1 car is not just a fast car. It serves as proof of the value of education, creativity and teamwork too.
