After winning the National Championships in STEM Racing earlier in March of this year, the STEM Racing Academy at Charles Campbell College have their eyes set on the World Championships, with its team, Fusion, making its way to the international championships in Singapore later this year in October.

STEM Racing is an engineering, business, and design-based challenge. In this competition, the key intention is for teams to create a CO2 powered, miniature (roughly 20cm) F1-style car that will race on a 20m track, aiming for the fastest time. Although racing is not the only aspect of the competition, STEM Racing serves as a real-world simulation of motorsport and industry experiences, in which teams must present their Computer-Aided Designs (CAD), portfolios, branding, and sponsorship decisions.

Nationally, Fusion are the STEM Racing Champions in the professional class. They did not just win, they objectively dominated across the categories of the National competition, achieving the highest overall score. Specifically, the team earned awards for Best Engineered Car and Best Manufactured Car. The best manufactured car is decided upon performance in an engineering interview, where knowledge in manufacturing and CAD understanding is key. On the other hand, Best Engineered Car looks at the overall excellence across both manufacturing and design.

The team for Fusion consists of six year 10 students, all with individual roles to contribute to the team's success. Aidan is the team’s Branding Director, responsible for visual elements of the project and graphic design. Maverine is the Project and Team Manager, where she manages schedules and overall communications. Joey is the Wheel and Axle Engineer. Isaac is the Aerodynamics Engineer, responsible for the car body’s design. Ruby is the Trade Display Engineer, responsible for the competition display. Finally, Jackson is in charge of sponsorship coordination, where he handles all sponsors and stakeholder relationships.

The students in Fusion are using STEM Racing as a launchpad for their career aspirations in the future. Aidan (Branding Director) has a love of F1, which inspired him to join the program. He has goals to become an electrician and business owner, and through the competition, he has learned skills in marketing and sponsorship to help him in the future. Maverine initially joined in curiosity, but eventually grew into a leadership role, that of Project and Team Manager. She aspires to be a general practitioner one day, and her experience in STEM Racing will grant her skills in project management, which she could apply to a future clinic and its management. Other members of the team have aspirations towards direct professions in motorsports, such as engineers, or more creative paths, such as screenwriting. The platform of STEM Racing enables foundations for development towards many fields.

Preparation for the team varies, with international competitions such as the upcoming Singapore World Championships requiring around six months of preparation. In anticipation of Singapore, Fusion are focusing on collaborations with industry partners to excel to more professional standards, while also working towards reviewing their portfolios and scorecards to enter the World Championships with a fully refined version of their work across the business presentation and the car itself.

In previous years, the team had competed in the world championships, achieving 12th place. This year, they intend to move from national champions to global contenders, shooting for a podium position. This time around, the team has a greater focus on sustainability and has more complex portfolios to bring to the competition to help them excel further. 

Through the competition in Singapore, a program linked to the Williams Academy offers a three-year-long development programme to participants. Members of the team have applied before with no success, but excelling this year enables a new opportunity to succeed.

The team needs approximately $65,000 to attend the world finals. With a reliance on community and industry support, they are funded through sponsorships. To make it to international competitions in the first place, the team has a necessity to raise their funds, as well as seek support through non-monetary means such as technical collaborations and mentoring with industry partners. These external partnerships can aid in the improvement of manufacturing processes that can help the team achieve their best competition scores. 

Fusion are “obsessive” about winning, striving to reach their peak potential, to present themselves not just the best nationally, but to prove themselves competitive on a global stage.

If you wish to learn more about potentially supporting the team's journey to the world championships, you can check out the teams Go Fund Me or contact the team at fusion.racing23@gmail.com.