The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, met with students from St Aidan's CBS, Whitehall and Scoil Iosagain, Stillorgan to officially launch the 2007/2008 season of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge. Teams wishing to experience the thrills of the Honda-powered competition can now sign up at www.F1inSchools.ie.

F1 in Schools is a global competition that challenges secondary school students to design, build and race model CO2-powered Formula 1 cars of the future. Introduced to Ireland in 2005 by the Irish Computer Society, the project aims to help change inaccurate perceptions of engineering, science and technology by creating an exciting learning environment for young people to develop informed views about careers in these disciplines.

The launch of this year's competition comes just weeks after more than 500 second level schools around the country introduced two new syllabi at Leaving Certificate level: "Design and Communication Graphics" and "Technology".

Speaking at the F1 in Schools launch in the Department of Education and Science, Minister Hanafin highlighted the importance of promoting careers in technology: "To sustain the competitiveness of the Irish economy, it is vital that we produce sufficient numbers of workers with advanced technical skills. The F1 in Schools Challenge can help encourage the uptake of the new Leaving Cert technology subjects and give students a practical insight into some of the varied and exciting career options that science, engineering and technology present."

Last year more than 120 school teams competed at regional and national finals, where they were judged on a range of criteria including speed, design, engineering quality, and the school team's full project presentation. The 2007 Irish champions, team Gear Force from St Ailbe's School in Tipperary, will travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the world finals in spring 2008.

Frank Kennedy, Sales and Marketing Director of Universal Honda, believes that, from a corporate perspective, it is very rewarding to be involved in a project that promotes learning in such a fun and relevant manner: "Through Honda's long association with Formula 1, the F1 in Schools Challenge offers participants the opportunity to integrate their innovative skills with the dream of F1 in a creative and constructive way."

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