NM high on comp success

Newton Moore Senior High School has ridden the South West’s wave of recent STEM success after finishing first and second at the F1 and Subs in Schools WA championships.

Forming part of the school’s engineering specialist program, both contests were held last week at North Lake Senior Campus, Kardinya where the cars were raced over a 25m track while the submarines competed in a swimming pool.

“From the beginning of the design process to the final build of the cars was a couple of months,” Year 9 student Joshua Clayton said.

“We’re definitely going to change a few things before the national championships.”

The fastest time managed by the cars was 1.2 seconds, a run that equated to a 75km/h average speed.

The submarine competition comprised two separate categories, one for fully fledged submarines and another for ROVs, both won by NMSHS.

“We had to do an obstacle course and test the central and neutral buoyancy to make sure the sub sinks, rises and doesn’t tip to the side,” Year 10 student Abby Curti said.

ROV team member Lara Riley said her team’s task was a little more complex with their craft having to pick up and move objects while negotiating a similar obstacle course.

All teams will now start preparing for the national titles of their crafts and vehicles, with the Subs in Schools championship scheduled for early December.