Subs and cars set to take off as Wagga Christian College students hit STEM state championships

Wagga Christian College is sending 13 STEM comprising three teams of students from Years 7 to 10 to Sydney where they will compete in the finals for Subs in Schools and F1 in Schools.

The teams have been planning, building and modifying their machines since the year began and the school's Technology and Applied Studies teacher David Crick said it's the culmination of a lot of hard work.

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"We're looking forward to seeing all the hard work they have done come to fruition," Mr Crick said.

Team Trident is entering a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) designed to explore underwater environments for the Subs in Schools competition.

Last year Wagga Christian College took out the national title in this category and Mr Crick is confident the school can do so this time round.

"The team build a remotely operated vehicle - basically the equivalent of a deep sea rescue vehicle - and their role is to take it through an obstacle course.

"It has a tethered line...which they control from above and features a camera, a claw to grab things and a spike to pick things up."

Trident team manager and Year 7 student Claire Wilson, 13, said the project has been a challenging but enjoyable process.

"We've learned lots of things about engineering, hydraulics, teamwork and we're really excited," Claire said.

She said there had been many exciting steps along the way, including designing their own team shirts to putting their ROV in the water for the first time.

Team Orca is also entering the Subs in Schools competition with a life-like miniature submarine.

"That team has to manoeuvre through an obstacle course," Mr Crick said.

He said the inside of the sub is particularly complex and is filled with electronics and gears.

The sub is also remotely controlled, via wire connected to a buoy on the water's surface, as WIFI doesn't travel through water.

Orca Team manager Tristan Tait is optimistic about their chances going into the state finals.

"All team members have previous experience with this which really helps," Tristan said.

He said there were a wide range of skills to be learned through the competition, including computer engineering skills, limitations of manufacturing and material choice.

"We also learn communication skills and have to learn to manage time well and communicate with one another," he said.

Tristan said another key part of the competition was collecting sponsors to fund the project.

"A really important and beneficial part of the competition is going out and having the confidence to talk to businesses about that," he said.

Meanwhile, Team Neo is competing in the F1 in Schools competition.

The students design lightweight cars on engineering CAD software before using machines to craft that design out of a block of balsa wood.

Team engineer Ethan Harris said after that, there are a number of other steps including sanding down the car surface, adding axles, a nose cone and tail guides.

The F1 cars are then hooked up to a wire and powered by a CO2 cannister along a 20-metre track in an attempt to achieve times below one second.

Team Neo public relations man Hugh McCormick said the project teaches important skills such as problem solving and marketing.

Hugh said the project has given him ideas about a future career and is considering the possibility of pursuing marketing down the track.

Mr Crick said all three teams use a high level of CAD to build their machines.

"It's pretty impressive what they do," he said.

Mr Crick said the extra-curricular projects teach the students many important skills across multiple disciplines.

Since the beginning of the year, the students have also gained valuable experience in public speaking as well as pitching their project to local businesses to secure important sponsorship deals to fund their builds.

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