The document provides details about a student design team that is redesigning their Formula 1 race car for a national competition. It outlines the responsibilities of each team member and describes the iterative design process they went through to optimize various aspects of the car's design like the logo, uniforms, and aerodynamic components. This included testing different shapes, sizes, and materials through computer simulations and physical testing to minimize drag and improve performance. The document demonstrates how the team worked collaboratively and used an analytical approach to refine their car design.

2. Name: Deirbhle Hennessy
Age: 16
Year: 4th
15 Word Profile: Very friendly, sporty person
and would enjoy a future career in Graphic Design
or teaching.
Responsibilities: I am responsible for developing the
logo and colour schemes. I had to liaise with the Design
Engineer to ensure any schemes will fit the shape of the
vehicle and also with the Marketing Manager for additional
marketing developments.
Deliver a high quality project of superior quality in
Design and Engineering.
Build upon a foundation of Analysis and Testing.
Realise Potential and recognise Teamwork.
Over the course of this project the team has put in
many hours of their own time every week to co-
ordinate different areas of the project. Although
each team member has a specific role, many of the
tasks required co-operation among the team.
Name: Maeve O’Gorman
Age: 16
Year: 4th
15 Word Profile: Outgoing team player with
a great interest in sports and a future career in Media.
Responsibilities: I am responsible for developing Team Marketing and
Sponsorship. I had to liaise with the F1 in Schools Marketing Team, local
media and potential sponsors to ensure maximum exposure.
Name: Gerard Barlow
Age: 16
Year: 5th
15 Word Profile: Loves woodwork, plays GAA and makes
Hurley's and interested in a future career in engineering.
Responsibilities: I am responsible for manufacturing the car
to the highest possible standard while working within the constraints
of the machining process and the Rules and Regulations. I had to
work closely with the Design Engineer to ensure that any design
features could be effectively manufactured.
Name: Megan Cleary
Age: 16
Year: 4th
15 Word Profile: Hard worker, up for a challenge,
interested in a future career in acting.
Responsibilities: I organise time, materials and equip-
ment for designing and making the cars. I had to liaise with all mem-
bers of the team to ensure tasks were progressing on time. I offer help
where necessary.
To represent Ireland at the Formula 1 in
Schools World Finals 2012.
Name: Sinead Cummins
Age: 16
Year: 4th
15 Word Profile: Well–motivated team player. Loves GAA, interested in
languages. Considering a future career in management.
Responsibilities: As Team Manager I am responsible for managing the
team and ensuring the car is ready for Nationals. I work closely with all
members of the team and offer assistance where necessary.
It is my job as Design Engineer to ensure the design ideas could be realised and
to develop the styling and aerodynamic performance of the car design to the
highest standard.

3. In order to efficiently manage a project of this size it was
necessary to create a comprehensive plan. By making good
use of what we had achieved from the regionals we critically
analysed our situation. We were mindful of possible risks,
equipment and funding we would have access to and also not
be over optimistic with relation to our time restraints. For this
reason we split our analysis into a number of strategic categories.
This is what was to be
covered in our project. By
assessing our scope it was easier
to lay out tasks which would get
us to our ultimate goal.
To maintain communication within the team
throughout the holidays and midterms we used the
school’s online SharePoint facilities, e-mailing, texting
and Facebook.
We had to consider what
we already had access to and what we
needed to gain access to, and then
consider how and when we intended to
By analyzing what might possibly
drive our project off course we were able to
put systems in

4. Mood Boards
After numerous discussions concerning all
possible names, the name Quasar emerged
as the best.
Our final 3 names:
Swift, Quasar and Ice.
The aim of our logo was to integrate
the image of a quasar into the word
Quasar. Our logo gave the illusion of
speed and light. We initially incorpo-
rated the quasar into the Q in our
name. We felt it wasn't effective
enough and didn't resemble the name
Quasar and was difficult to read.
We had a eureka moment which was to
use the quasar as an S rather than an Q.
We spotted that the quasar forms an S
shape so we substituted it in.
We put a green curve around the
border. We removed the stars
from our layout as they didn’t go
well with the green curve. We then
put our car at the bottom right
hand corner of our page and a
water mark of a checkered flag at
the bottom of our page.
We wanted to improve the apperance of our uniform
from the Regional Finals. We felt that the polo shirts
weren’t professional enough. We decided to change
the colour shirts from white to black because the
quasar looked better on black. We also felt that a
black shirt would suit both genders.
We felt that our colour scheme needed a lift to
make it stand out more. We contacted a local
graphic designer and he was very impressed
with our work to date and felt that we should
not change too much. We looked at mood
boards, colour pallets, colour wheel, and F1
team colour schemes.
We felt that the green and
blue were the most eye
catching on the mood
We looked at their colour
pallets and saw that pastels
and beiges were fashiona-
ble. However, these did not
have a distinctive look so
we decided they weren’t
suitable.

5. The next aspect of our
team identity to which
our new graphic design
scheme needed to be
applied was our team
uniform. It was
important
that, like
everything
else, our
uniform
created
visual
appeal
while still
remaining
Our main aim with our team uniforn was to create a smart
casual look while still remaining professional. Our uniform
changed considerably. We incorporated all colours into our
uniform. The reason we changed from white to black was
because our colours, green, blue and purple, stood out
better on the black. On it we have embroidered our name,
website and our main sponsers. And we have encorperated
There were various different
styles of front covers which we
considered for the Nationals.
However, we found that there wasn’t
enough blue in our portfolio.
To counteract this
problem, we
introduced a front
cover that had blue,
purple and green in
it, we felt our cover
page was very
effective. Our name
Quasar and our car
stood out.
The introduction of a purple tone
created both depth
and visual impact
within our team
identity. By adding
more green to our
team identity it made our layout more
striking. These changes were then
implemented in other stationery, in
We came up with a colour that
would compliment the green in our
Quasar. We looked at a colour
wheel and found that a pantone
purple worked very well with green.
Headed
Notepaper
We needed to portray the purple
in our layout. We experimented
with various designs.
Final
Design
OR
Once we had formed concrete ideas about the direction in
which we would like to take our graphic design, we
applied these to the presentation of our team. Our team
identity was revamped and we were able to progress with
Envelope
professional.
All teams stood out because
they used eye-catching colours
in a stylish way.

6. The average speed of an F1 in Schools car is approximately
18m/s. However at the start its speed is 0m/s, it reaches a
maximum speed and then begins to slow down. Therefore it
passes through a wide range of speeds on its journey of 20m.
Two questions have to be posed;
1. What is the optimal testing speed?
2. Does aerodynamic behaviour change fundamentally at
certain speeds?
To answer these questions we tested 3 different cars which we
developed for earlier stages of the competition over a range of
speeds from 15m/s to 21m/s. The results gave a very clear
result. The drag increased in a linear manner without strange
anomalous results.
We were then
confident that
testing our car
components at
the average
speed of 18m/s
would give us
reliable results.
1. Develop efficient front aerofoil
2. CO2
Chamber enclosure
3. Develop efficient side-pod design
4. Nose Cone (+ accommodation for front aerofoil)
5. Develop aero neutral rear aerofoil
6. Winglets behind rear wheels
7. Tweak the results of the above
No Aerofoil
(Baseline)
0.01 -0.049
Basic Round Shape
0.006 -0.039
Reduced drag
Basic pointed Shape
-0.001 -0.043
Marginally better
Shape Swept Upwards
-0.001 -0.048
Almost same as
-0.057 +0.034N -0.054 +0.015N -0.051 +0.016
We still had to ask the question; Is this the
most efficient aerodynamic profile for the
rear aerofoil? We searched the internet and
found a piece of software called ―DesignFoil‖
which is used to design aerofoil profiles. We
used this program to help us develop an effi-
cient front aerofoil based on sound aerody-
namic principles.

7. The introduction of a centre fin to break finish
line beam. The straight leading edge gave the
best aero numbers.
Drag: -0.107 Lift: -0.01127
Drag: -0.1088
Many CFD simulations later (as documented in our
test data booklet) we determined the optimal shape
to put in front of a wheel to minimise drag yielded a:
N A C A Type 5 Aerofoil
9 = max camber height as % of chord
40 = max camber location as % of chord
17 = max aerofoil thickness as % of chord
With its leading edge on the wheel horizontal
centreline.
Drag: -0.109
consists of an inkjet printing system. A 3D CAD file is imported into the
software. The software slices the file into thin cross-sectional slices, which are fed into
the 3D printer. The printer creates the model one layer at a time by spreading a layer
of powder (plaster, or resins) and inkjet printing a binder in the cross-section of the
part. The process is repeated until every layer is printed. It is also recognized as the
fastest method and is significantly cheaper than others.
( ) is an additive manufacturing technique that uses a
high power laser to fuse small particles of plastic, metal, ceramic,
or glass powders into a mass representing a desired 3-dimensional
object. The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning
cross-sections generated from a 3-D digital description of the
part on the surface of a powder bed. After each cross-
section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by
one layer of thickness, a new layer of material
is applied on top, and the process is
repeated until the part is completed.
is an additive manufacturing process using a vat of
liquid UV-curable photopolymer "resin" and a UV laser to build parts a layer at
a time. On each layer, the laser beam traces a part cross-section pattern on
the surface of the liquid resin. Exposure to the UV laser light cures, or,
solidifies the pattern traced on the resin and adheres it to the layer below.
After a pattern has been traced, the SLA's elevator platform descends by a
single layer thickness, typically 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm. Then, a resin-filled
blade sweeps across the part cross
section, re-coating it with fresh material.
On this new liquid surface, the
subsequent layer pattern is traced,
adhering to the previous layer. A
complete 3-D part is formed by this
process. After building, parts are
cleaned of excess resin by immersion in
a chemical bath and then cured in
a UV oven.
NACA-5 10-50-
21
0.002
-0.041
NACA-4
0.003
-0.045
Marginally bet-
NACA-5 9-40-17
0.001
-0.037
NACA-5 9-40-17
Leading edge below
centre line of wheel
-0.005
-0.045
NACA-5 9-40-17
Aerofoil above centre line of
wheel
-0.005
-0.044
A simple enough process except
for the fact that the curve on the
centre part of the aerofoil had to
match the curve on the car body.
The ―Convert Entities‖ utility in
SolidWorks proved very useful
here.

8. Cylinder with cone.
Drag:
0.0311N
Cylinder with dome.
Drag:
0.0393N
Basic Cylinder.
Drag: 0.095N
Rounder, slightly pointed
chamber cover.
Drag:
0.0265N
Long slender point.
Drag:
0.0285N
Concave, pointed front end.
Drag:
0.0259N
Non Parallel sides -‖Stubby‖
version.
Drag:
0.029N
Non parallel sides—Streamlined
version.
Drag:
0.0233N
Out initial idea with the chamber was to use a known efficient shape as the chamber cover. ―Designfoil‖
suggested an NACA 6-Series shape which yielded good results. Despite this, we were still tempted to drop the
nose to see what would happen. Surprisingly, we immediately got a much better result. We then ran tests to
see how changing the length of the chamber would effect the drag. We tested between 113mm and
119mm.The extreme measurements gave significantly poor results. Best results were from 114mm to
118mm, with the optimum length of 114mm yielding a drag factor of 0.118N
NACA Series 16 Aerofoil shaped nose The ground effect dictates that we
should keep the car as far above
the ground as possible.
3mm Clearance = 0.148N Drag
5.25mm Clearance = 0.133N Drag
Slots under car help raise the base of
the car from the ground.
Without = 0.139N Drag
With = 0.133N Drag
Wheel arches guide air from
aerofoils to car body.
Without = 0.137N Drag
With = 0.133n Drag

9. For optimal performance the rear wing must be located
tangential to top of chamber.
The only purpose of the rear aerofoil is to satisfy the
regulations, therefore it must be of minimal size and of
the best aerodynamic shape. We conducted extensive
CFD testing to determine the shape and location of this
aerofoil so as to minimise the increased drag effect it
would have on the car. In these tests we used a very
symmetrical simple curve design. (NACA Type 4 Digit)
As the aerofoil had to be a tangent to the top of the
chamber cover we needed to make sure that the
piece that connected it to the body had the same
shape as the body itself. To do this we had to reverse
engineer our car. We cut away the pieces we did not
want and simply kept the piece on the top of the
chamber cover that we needed. The aerofoil profile
was then added to this
piece.
Side Pod Base
-0.041
Fillet behind front wheel
-0.037 0.008
Side pod 15mm in height
-0.042 0.004
Curved side pod
-0.042 0.004
Tapered front end
-0.037
0.008
Very
Tapered front in plan
-0.044 0.006
Simple tapered front
end
-0.037 0.007
Concave spline , 7mm
drop
on right
-0.0359 0.0073
Side pods curve under
wheels
-0.0337 0.0048
Concave above, Convex below
-0.1217 0.0437
Very Good
Convex Base
-0.1284
0.0401
Concave curve under-
neath
-0.1292 0.0415
Simple winglet
-0.1318
0.0854

10. 

Reducing the ―tyre‖ thickness to
0.5mm and the rib thickness to
1mm yields:



This is a 57%
Relocating the rib in the centre of the
wheel, reducing tyre thickness to
0.46mm and introducing a hub to
accommodate the bearing yields:



Drilling the rib and creating slots yields:



Switching to Ertalon 66 yields:

Aluminium
 Density 2.7g/cm3
—Good
 Easily worked
 Stable
 Narrow section easily damaged
Delrin
 Density 1.42g/cm3
—Excellent
 Easily worked
 Stable
 Narrow section has good
flexibility and high strength
Nylon
 Density 1.4g/cm3
—Excellent
 Poor workability
 Absorbs water therefore not very
stable.
 Narrow section has good
flexibility and high strength
Ertalon 66
 Density 1.14g/cm3
—Excellent
 Good workability
Regulations state
that the wheel diameter
must be between 26mm
and 34mm. From an
aerodynamic perspective the
smallest size seems like the
best choice but from a physics
point of view, what do the numbers
tell us?
Diameter = 34mm ⇒
⇒
Axels do not present any performance issues. As
long as they are strong enough we can use them as
a weight control to keep the maximim weight of the
car to 55g.
Based on a 3mm × 60mm axel the materials
available to us yield the following results:
 Silver Steel—3.27g / axel
 Aluminium—1.15g / axel
 Carbon—0.77g/axel
As is the effective extra
mass generated by the wheel
dynamics, we need to minimise
this value.

11.  Heat treated stainless steel is the most common type
of steel used for rings and balls. With the addition of
chromium and nickel corrosion, resistance is greatly
improved.
 Constructed of steel inner/outer rings, ceramic balls
and retainers are made of steel or thermoplastic.
 Some ceramic materials such as Zirconia or Alumina
are heavier than Silicon Nitride and not as suitable for
hybrid bearings although they can be used in full
ceramic bearings.
 Hybrid bearings are also capable of higher speeds
The ceramic/hybrid/steel decision was
an easy one. The statistics speak for
themselves. Ceramic is the clear winner, it
ticks all the boxes that our formula requires:
 Lower density reduces the mass moment
of inertia.
 Lower friction allows for faster
acceleration and reduces the overall
Within the ceramic field there are more choices to be made.
There are many types of ceramics, the most common ones for
bearing manufacture are:
 Aluminium oxide (Al2
O3
)
 Zirconia (ZrO2
)
 Silicon Nitride (Si3
N4
)
All have similar qualities and are widely used but again the
choice here was governed by the equation.
The deciding factor was density. The lower the better without
Full Silicon Nitride Balls and Races
ABEC 5 Precision Class
Grade 5
Peek
The acceleration formula showed us how important it is to
reduce Bearing Friction Torque (Mf
) and the Mass Moment
of Inertia of the moving parts. We must also bear in mind
the speed rating of our chosen bearings. We have
calculated that our wheels will run at an average rate of
13,363* RPM.
Ceramic is the new Holy Grail! It’s lighter, smoother, stiffer
and harder than steel. Ceramic bearings dissipate heat
quickly, reducing friction and wear while maintaining a
precision smooth surface. Today's leading edge ceramics are
made with Silicon Nitride (Si3
N4
) and have characteristics
similar to the heat absorbing, highly resilient tiles on the
Space Shuttle. Long life and the need for minimum lubrication
makes this material perfect for harsh conditions.
 The density of ceramic is 40% that of steel, the resulting
reduction in weight reduces centrifugal forces imparted on
the rings, reducing skidding, allowing up to 30% higher
running speeds with less lubrication.
 Silicon Nitride balls have a 50 % higher modulus of
elasticity.
r
Rotation
Mf
NB
FB
FB

12. Car A 82.53 14.75
Car B 86.99 15.98
It is vital to achieve as close to the 55g min. mass of the car as possible.
While most materials have fixed densities, balsa wood is a completely
different matter. Each block of balsa wood had a different mass (ranging
from 59g to 153g) so therefore it was difficult to know which block to
choose to machine our car. We combated this issue by taking 3 blocks with
different weights and machined our car out of each. The percentage of
material lost was calculated to be 80%. This allowed us to choose the
appropriate balsa block to use to acquire the desired finished mass.
Parting Tool
Cycle
All outer wheel components were manufactured on
our CNC Lathe. The initial steps included drawing
the section using the lathe software and then
generating the ―cycles‖ that the lathe would follow.
Contour Cycle
Drilling Cycle
Two additions to the finished car
were required to locate the balsa
blank in the CNC Router jig.
A stereolithographic version of
the body had to be created
from the Solid Works model.
This essentially is a wire frame
representation of the car.
―Quick CAM Pro‖ used this
STL file to generate the
processing cycle for our
CNC Router.
―VR Milling‖ now uses this
instruction set to control
the drill head. Three
cycles were required -
left, right and top.
While we could manufacture many
parts of the car in house, the wheels
proved problematic. They needed to
be machined from two sides. Our
school technology could not achieve
this so we had to outsource this
process to a local company.
The manufacture of our aerofoils had
also to be outsourced. The process used
is called Stereolithography (SLA). It is an
additive manufacturing process that uses
a vat of UV liquid photopolymer "resin"
and a UV laser to build parts, a layer at a
time. On each layer, the laser beam traces
a part cross-section pattern on the surface
of the liquid resin. Exposure to the UV
laser cures or solidifies the pattern traced
on the resin and adheres it to the layer
below.
This process was chosen because of its
high strength, toughness, durability and
the high degree of details it preserves
4 Wheels 3.69g Axel
Support
0.7g
Axel 3.04g Front
Aerofoil
3.86g
Outer
Cover
1.38g Rear
Aerofoil
1.72g
Inner
Cover
0.75g 30.96g

13. Research shows that new cars require up to 10
coats of paint to achieve a top class finish.
83.33
15.98
15.51
16.66
25.4
30.03
32.05
34.11
After grain filling, the car was given many coats of
primer – sanding after each coat with finer & finer
sandpaper. This stage added significant weight so
we The final green finish was applied in 10+ very
fine layers. Each coat was left to dry in a warm
environment before the next coat was applied.
The car was finished with a coat of lacquer.
When it came to painting we realised that
adding layers of paint added extra weight to
our car. Solid Works showed us that our car
has a surface area of 35,013mm2
. Based on
this we were able to determine that the mass
of a layer of paint is 0.31g. Vital information
used to control the finished mass of our car.
Step 1: Sand with 100/240/320g.
Step 2; Apply sealer.
Step 3: Clean with solvent.
Step 4: Clean with tack cloth.
Step 5: Apply primer.
Step 6: Sand with 400g.
Step 7: Clean with solvent.
Step 8: Clean with tack cloth.
Step 9: Apply with first coat of green paint.
Step 10: Lightly sand with 1500g.
Step 11: Clean with tack cloth.
Step 12: Apply second coat of green.
Step 13: Lightly sand with 2000g.
Step 14: Clean with solvent.
Step 15: Clean with tack cloth.
Step 16: Apply lacquer.
Step 17: Apply Turtle
wax.
 Align Axels & glue eyelets
 Attach front and rear aerofoils
 Wheel Assembly
 Wheels
 Bearings
 Covers
 Axels
 Fix tether line guides

15. Washer
Inside Wheel Covers
Wheel Rim
Ceramic Bearing
Static Wheel Covers
Rear Aerofoil
Front Aerofoil
Silver Steel Axle

16. We agreed that the best way to approach sponsorship was to gain
small amounts of money from many local businesses, instead of
targeting a few large companies for major sponsorship.
We called this campaign This
involved asking all the businesses in the town for €10 for which they
would get their name in our portfolio. The ―Quasar... sponsored by
Tipperary‖ logo is included on all
advertising space throughout our project.
We felt it would be much more profitable
to talk to owners and managers face to
face rather than sending letters or emails
as it provided a personal touch which we
believed would give us a greater return.
If they wished to come on board, we gave
them a Team Quasar poster and a leaflet
giving them more details of the
competition and our schools history in the
Formula 1 in Schools Technology
challenge.
We were surprised and pleased at the
amount of people who were willing to
engage with us and sponsor us more
substantially.
After regionals we broadened our
horizons and opened up ―Quasar...
Sponsored by Tipperary‖‖ to the wider
Tipperary community.
Nokia Care Centre came on board with a
sponsorship deal whereby they give us
sponsorship in exchange for
giving publicity to their shop.
We needed to raise more awareness of our team and the fact that we would be
representing our school at the National Finals of this competition. We had already
noticed a lack of knowledge regarding ouer team even, to some extent, within our
local area. It was imperative that we publicise our team, goals and progress so far. We
formulated a number of ways in which to raise awareness which we believed would be
suitable to our cause.
- We launched our team
by advertising on the schools
intranet and digital signage
system. We also had articles
published in local newspapers and
magazines.
- To create a more
interactive experience for the
public, we held an interview on the
local radio station. This enabled people
to input questions or comments to learn
more about the competition.
- Ito connect with the maximum number of
people we have a Facebook page and blog. We also
created an email address so we can directly contact
suppliers etc.
We held a raffle which targeted
individuals rather than companies or businesses.
This served two purposes, as it raised awareness of
the team while also attaining finances for running
the project.
We compiled a magazine which we
dropped into waiting rooms and receptions in our local
area to raise awareness in individuals and entice more

17. Coming into the competition at the beginning, one of our
biggest concerns was how wide the scope of both the
competition and our own goals were. By laying these
aspects out immediately and breaking them into
manageable size chunks we were able to analyse our
achievements to date and categorise specifically what
needed to be done, when and how. For example:
 The creation of a separate marketing plan, which laid
out how we would present our team in a way which
would allow us to become a recognised name.
 The testing of each team member’s reaction time 100
times to see who was consistantly the best for racing.
 The breakdown of the car design into its main parts.
Our resources were vital to our progress.
We were very pleased with these as our
school has a lot of the supplies and
technology.
Some of these resources include:
 CNC Routers
 CNC Lathes
 Computers
 Starting Gates
 End Gates
 Race Track
 Scales
We came to realise that one of our biggest risk factors was time
management. We soon became aware that unless we applied ourselves
directly and in a structured way, our time could easily be wasted. We feel
that this was counteracted well with our project planning schemes.
There was also a risk of financial difficulties such as lack of sponsors but
hard work and good planning ensured success. Manufacture also had risks
associated with it. We met this first hand when out CNC router broke down
during the manufacture of our car. File corruption was also an issue so we
regularly backed-up files to prevent loss of information and work.
Overall we feel we managed our risks well. There were many things that
could have gone wrong technically, especially in the manufacture side of
things, but there was nothing Team Quasar couldn’t handle.
When it came to managing our time efficiently,
working as a team was absolutely key. We needed to
be able to apply ourselves to tasks listed in the
scope. We made a timeline to realise the importance
of targets in order to achieve our goals. We could
definitely improve in every aspect of the competition
but we had deadlines to meet. Nevertheless if we
were running behind on schedule we just worked
even harder during Christmas,midterm and Easter
holidays. We found that communication was key to
our success in this learning project.
I learned so much from
being a part of this project. I love art
so it was an amazing opportunity to
work on graphic design.
My confidence has
grown hugely as a result of
taking part in this project. It
has been a challenging
experience but I have enjoyed
every minute.
I learned that having targets
and keeping to deadlines in order to
achieve our goals is imperative to run-
ning a successful project.
I now understand how to use
such programmes as SolidWorks which is a
great life skill. It has been a really great
opportunity and an amazing experience to
be a member of Quasar.
My engineering skills have
been greatly enhanced throughout
the course of this project. My IT
skills have been improved by using
programmes such as SolidWorks and
Microsoft Office.