The 2018 Energy Breakthrough began a new era with a fresh, friendly, education-first approach and finished with an electrifying finish.
It was an electrifying finish to the 24-Hour Trial for secondary school teams with defending champions Girton Grammar School breaking a throttle failure with five minutes before the chequered flag.
The All-Electric vehicle ground to a halt before the quick-thinking driver, Connor McCaig, reworked the wiring on-the-fly to crawl over the line, finishing just one lap ahead of second-placed team, Rode RAGE. The Girton team covered a record 1,028 kilometres during the 24-Hour Trial.
Program partners, the Country Education Partnership and the Central Goldfields Shire Council, were joined by sponsors the Department of Education Victoria, VicRoads, La Trobe University, Central Highlands Water, True Foods in delivering an outstanding edition in Maryborough over five days.
The Maryborough and the Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) community responded to the challenge of providing more volunteers to ensure the event not only survived but thrived.
It’s an educational event, not a ‘race’
“The educational value that our schools reap by participating in Energy Breakthrough cannot be understated,” said Mike Stephens, Chair of the Country Education Partnership.
“Not only does it (EB) encourage a passion for science and engineering but our schools consistently tell us what it achieves for their students’ self-confidence, team-work and leadership skills.”
“I think you’d be hard-pressed finding another school-based event that so effectively makes science fun and exciting, and the Country Education Partnership (CEP) is incredibly proud of its founding role in this wonderful event.”
A fantastic event that inspires students Australia-wide to be creative and innovative
“The Energy Breakthrough is a fantastic event that inspires students Australia-wide to be creative and innovative,” said Central Goldfields Shire Administrator Hugh Delahunty, who is also the Chair of the Energy Breakthrough Governance Committee.
“This year, we have hosted yet another successful Energy Breakthrough and I’m looking forward to working with everyone to continue the event into the future.”
“Congratulations to 24-Hour Trial winners, Girton Grammar School, for their thrilling finish and congratulations to all of the participants, organisers and volunteers who helped make the Energy Breakthrough be as successful as it was.”
Results
In the HPV Secondary categories, St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar School was the first team across the line with their vehicle ‘PerZeus’. They set a distance record as they completed 1,019 kilometres during the 24-Hour Trial and took overall winner honours in the HPV Open Class in a very close competition.
There were a record number of entries in the HPV primary category and local Maryborough teams performed exceptionally well. Avoca Primary School were overall winners in the A1 class and Maryborough Education Centre in the A2 class.
Very well run. Some excellent changes introduced in Design and Construct and Pre-Scrutineering. The whole system flowed well particularly having Design and Construct as the first port of call. The judging system was streamlined and assessment made easier. The Pre-Srutineering format seemed to work more efficiently by checking lights/mirrors etc. followed by brakes then cornering flowed well in that order.
As usual marshalling was a challenge as always and most enjoyable and extremely rewarding.. In our opinion both primary and secondary students were very well behaved. It was nice to see that all the schools helped each other everyone working well together to make this another successful event.
Yolanda Filip and Michael Belcher