Students from St Alloysius College in NSW will head off to the US next month to compete in the World Final of the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix following their win in the recent world qualifier Victoria Finals held at Toyota Australia’s Centre of Excellence at Altona.
They will be joined by a team of Victorian students from Wodonga Catholic College, who were also given a wildcard entry into the World Final after finishing as the top placed team from Victoria.
Toyota hosted the event and provided a grant of $100,000 to schools in Victoria to help them design, engineer, build and race hydrogen fuel cell electric remote control racecars in the Grand Prix event.
The H2GP educational program is run by the European-based Horizon Educational Group that designs, produces, and distributes STEM education kits and teaching materials across the globe to help students develop renewable energy technology skills through hands-on learning.
Toyota Australia provides 1% of the company’s pre-tax profits annually to a range of not-for-profit and education organisations. As part of this, the Toyota Community Trust Fund has provided grants to 10 schools to compete in the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix.
Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley said the company was committed to the further development of hydrogen fuel cell technology as part of its multi-pathway approach to decarbonisation, and the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix was a great initiative to encourage the next generation of designers and engineers to learn about the technology and its potential to help drive a more sustainable future.
“By supporting this event and helping several Victorian schools run the semester-long STEM program, we are able to further raise awareness of this vital zero-CO2 tailpipe emission technology, particularly among students who will be the next generation of leaders at the forefront of decarbonisation,” he said.
Fuel cells generate electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction with the only emissions being water vapour, making them an excellent source of CO2-free emission power generation for a wide variety of applications.
Toyota is involved in the development of the hydrogen economy in Australia with its own hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility at Altona, leasing of a limited number of the Toyota Mirai FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicle) to several progressive organisations, and recently started assembling and distributing the EODev GEH2 hydrogen fuel cell generator for stationary power supply.
Horizon Educational Group Director APAC Ales Rakovsky said, “Securing Australia’s energy future started with community-based educational initiatives like the H2GP, which empower the next generation of renewable energy engineers, designers, and leaders.”
“We’re proud to collaborate with Toyota to bring the program to students in Victoria, filling the hydrogen and renewable energy skills gap through these engaging programs and events,” Mr Rakovsky said.
Over the course of the semester-long program, students explore topics ranging from climate change and renewable energy solutions to automotive engineering, chemistry and physics concepts.
They then apply these learnings to design the racecar using 3D modelling software before prototyping and constructing the finished remote control racecar from a range of components that are produced by Horizon Educational Group.
For more information on the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix see: Grand prix Homepage.
For more information on Toyota Australia’s support for STEM education see: Toyota Community Trust | Toyota Australia.
