More information: Liz Fitzgerald, team advisor, 770–956-9493

Fred Stillwell, former ECMS STEM teacher and F1 coordinator, (678) 386-8046

August 28, 2011– Four girls from East Cobb will represent East Cobb Middle School, Wheeler High, the United States – and girls interested in science everywhere – when they travel to Malaysia in September for the F1 in Schools World Championship.

In May, East Cobb Middle School’s Team Raptor – Anna Awald, Kelly Fitzgerald, Claire McCoy and Sabine Saldanha – won 2^nd place (a scant .015 of a second behind 1^st) at the national Formula 1 in Schools finals in Michigan. Then in 8^th grade at ECMS, three girls now enter 9^th grade in the Wheeler STEM Magnet and one Campbell’s IB program.

Now, thanks to sponsorships from Porsche Cars North America, the Women in Technology Foundation, and other private businesses and foundations, the girls have raised $18,000 (for airfare, uniforms, lodging, materials and competition costs) to make the trip to Malaysia. The Georgia team will collaborate with the 2^nd-place team from Germany to compete in the World Championship F1 engineering challenge.

The students say this once-in-a lifetime opportunity will expand their cultural knowledge by pairing them with a German team, competing with other teams from around the world, and seeing a country on the other side of the world. Already, in competing in the U.S. and raising funds for the global competition, they have honed their teamwork, commitment and communication skills, they say, and learned to apply new knowledge to other engineering fields.

 Formula One in Schools is an engineering challenge in which teams design and build a model formula one car. In competition, teams race their cars, being powered by a CO₂ cartridge, down a 20-meter track. Teams also give an oral presentation and an engineering interview and create a display and portfolio on the competition process.

East Cobb Middle School has been involved with F1 in Schools for 7 years. ECMS teams have competed in 6 different states and 3 different countries, never placing lower than 1^st at the state level and 3^rd at the national level.