Ho Chi Minh City, July 30th 2018
First established in the UK in 2000, F1 in Schools is an educational organisation, global competition run by Formula One that incorporates a world class STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) education that engages with millions of students across the Globe which makes it the largest competition for high school students in the world.
F1 in Schools Technology Challenge is now accessible to over 26 million students ages 11-19 from 17,000 schools across 45 countries. F1 in school’s international growth has led to 13 World Finals with 2018 marking the 14th World Finals held from 9th to 13th of September 2018 in Singapore alongside the FORMULA 1 2018 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX.
Singapore has hosted two previous F1 in Schools World Finals, the first in 2010 and again in 2015. The World Finals returns to this venue for a second time with over 500 students, teachers and supporters. Over 50 teams representing more than 25 countries will all be competing for the Formula 1 F1 in Schools World Champions trophy and University scholarships.
Participants form teams comprising of 3-6 students to design a small-scale Formula 1 car to be judged on different aspects including speed, design, marketing and presentation. The world finals test the few dozen teams that have nationally qualified over the spectrum of 20 million students and is especially competitive and strict in terms of criterion.
Nam Phong is a team of six highly skilled, dedicated, and resilient Year 12 students at the British International School HCMC with the desire of succeeding at the F1 in Schools World Finals 2018 in Singapore.
Nam Phong’s strength lies within the expertise and passion that each member - Jasmine Nguyen, Victoria Fethke, Ji Min Oh, Jonathan Le and Ju Ha Lee - brings to the team and all shares from engineering, design technology, CAD/CAM software use, marketing to organization. Teamwork and communication skills make collectively Nam Phong an innovative force.
Nam Phong which means Southern Wind in Vietnamese pays homage to Vietnam heritage and culture as the only F1 in Schools team from Vietnam. The logo features a water buffalo and swift calligraphy strokes.
Since 2015 Vietnam entered the F1 in Schools competition with Team Helios (2015), Doppler Racing (2016), Photon Racing (2017) and now Nam Phong (2018) whose members are all students at British International School (BIS) in Ho Chi Minh City.
In 2016 Audi Vietnam sponsored Doppler Racing which won the Best Newcomer Award and 2nd position for the Autodesk Fusion Pressure challenge, representing the one and only F1 Team in Vietnam. Steve Ko became the top nine students who were accepted into the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy offering F1 specific engineering courses for four years, mentored by Williams F1 team engineers. The experience of F1 in Schools encouraged Steve to apply for Aerospace Engineering at KAIST University where he is currently studying.
„As National representatives of Vietnam, our team hopes to place in the top 3 with a car racing at a current speed of 1.058 seconds - which places us in the top 3 in the World Finals in Singapore - to indicate towards Vietnam’s fast-paced development in various spectrums: education, urban growth, technology and its economy“ highlighted Nham Phong Team.
Nam Phong’s participation in this competition aims to provide opportunities for future engineers and scientists to apply their knowledge in real life will encourage the community to take part in science and engineering.
Audi’s contribution to Nam Phong’s journey to Singapore demonstrates the progressive steps Audi Vietnam is taking in the platform of education and Vietnam’s involvement in global competitions.
„For Audi, design must be progressive and lightweight thus we support Nam Phong’s design process going through multiple stages of development to design the fastest car and wish them a new record breaking performance in Singapore“ declares Laurent Genet Audi Vietnam Official Importer General Director.
In Vietnam, Audi lightweight design combines optimized metals to ensure solid, safe and agile chassis with engines delivering high torque, efficient power and low fuel consumption. Audi cars are enjoyable to drive in any conditions thank to quattro permanent all-wheel drive and for Audi, Vietnam is the land of quattro.
Together with Audi Vietnam, Nam Phong sponsors include Annam Gourmet Market, i-IVY, LAN RUNG Resort, LEHA, QUOC CUONG GIA LAI GROUP.