MANILA -- For the first time, the Philippines will compete at the F1 in Schools World Finals, to be represented by six STEM students from the British School Manila. 

The competition is slated on November 21 to 28, 2024 in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 

The team called AGILAS is composed of senior students Neo Gatlabayan, Gian Andre Benjamin Gaisano Anggala, Lau Li Khai (Marcus), Sofia Margaret Gorospe, junior Aaron Gabriel Chua, and sophomore Tara Bahukhandi. Jenna Storey stands as their adviser. 

The team coined AGILAS from Aguila, the Philippine Eagle, and "magilas," a Filipino word the team said reflects their "tenacious determination to succeed."

[L-R] Lau Li Khai, Aaron Gabriel Chua, Sofia Margaret Gorospe, Jenna Storey, Tara Bahukhandi, Neo Angelo Gatlabayan, Gian Andre Benjamin Gaisano Anggala. Nina Angela Cruz, ABS-CBN News

As the first Philippine delegates to the international competition, AGILAS admits to feeling pressure as the ones to set the standard for the succeeding Filipino participants. 

"It is slightly stressful being the first ones to do everything ‘cause we don't have previous people to base ourselves on, but I think it's also really exciting ‘cause it's such a great opportunity," Marcus said.

"It's not often that you get an opportunity to participate in a global-scale high school competition that's under the organization of Formula 1 which is such a big organization so I think it's a bit scary but more so exciting," he added. 

-- F1 in Schools --

F1 in Schools is a global educational program that aims to raise awareness of STEM or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics using the appeal of Formula 1 among students. 

According to the program, some alumni of the competition went on to become part of Formula 1 teams. 

Students aged 11 to 19 may join the competition which involves racing miniature air-powered F1 cars they designed and manufactured using CAD and CFD software. 

Teams will also be graded based on their portfolios on Design & Engineering, Project Management, and Enterprise. Pit Display, Verbal Presentation, Racing Track/Car Service, and Scrutineering will also form part of the scores. 

The students take on different roles in the team: Neo as Managing Director and Chief Engineer; Tara as Marketing and Public Relations Strategist; Andre as Brand Manager and Race and Performance Engineer; Marcus as Chief Finance Officer and Director of Research and Design; Marga as Pit Design Engineer and Marketing Associate; and Aaron as Manufacturing Engineer and Finance Officer. 

According to Andre, it was Neo who introduced and formed them as a team for F1 in Schools. 

An objective to upgrade the STEM education in the country was a common denominator among the members. 

"All of us saw a vision, a shared vision. All of us essentially knew that we wanted to find a way how to bridge the Filipino community to a good chance at STEM education. [...] We wanted to think of a way that could bridge them both so we essentially kept looking until we found F1 in Schools," Andre said. 

-- Hurdles in preparation --

Due to scant resources in the country, AGILAS' preparation for the world finals was met with difficulties. 

Since the Philippines does not have its own In-Country Coordinator for F1 in Schools, the team had to take trips to Thailand to take classes to learn about the software and manufacture their car.  

"They have a readily available 3D printer so whatever design we wanted to do, we'll just design it and print it and we can receive it in 30 minutes," Andre said. 

A track where they can test their car was also something they could only access in Thailand. 

"We don't have the track here and that's almost one-fourth of our score in the actual world finals. [We really needed to go there to] manufacture everything and make sure they actually work, make sure it doesn't break," Marga said. 

AGILAS' prototype for F1 in Schools World Finals. Nina Angela Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Experience-wise, the group admitted to having a disadvantage of being the pioneers in the competition since they did not have any previous entries they could use as references. 

"We're the first team. Most of the teams in the world finals have been there for 4, 5 years. They have seniors who have done it before giving them advice, learning [from] their mistakes. For us, it's our first time. We don't have the knowledge that they do, the experience that they do so I think that was one of the biggest challenges as well," Marcus shared. 

Furthermore, as F1 in Schools has yet to establish its popularity in the Philippines, this proved to be another challenge for the team as sealing sponsorships from companies is part of the overall criteria. 

"We honestly felt like these companies and their generosity wouldn't have been possible without our creative and innovative thinking on how to attract them. Because these companies, I don't think they have really heard about F1 in Schools so this is all new to them. And I can also see from their perspective, like, I don't think they'd be open to giving so much money to something new," Andre said. 

-- Ready to race --

With only a few days before lights out, AGILAS shared optimism on their output they have prepared for for almost a year. 

"I think we're confident. I don't wanna come off as like mayabang (arrogant) but I feel like after the amount of effort we've put into this project, especially like every single one of us, every one of us works super hard for this. I feel like some of it is going show on the world stage and that I'm sure all of us are very proud of it," Andre said. 

"All of us are really excited and really looking forward to the competition. All of us want to put our best foot forward and hopefully give the Philippines a good chance at winning and show the world what the Philippines can do," he said. 

The work will not stop after the world finals.

According to the group, while the four senior students in their team will be off to universities soon and will not be eligible to compete again, they said they are committed to help mentor students who would follow in their footsteps. 

"We want to inspire the next generation of STEM students. So after this, our goal is maybe to encourage more people to take this F1 in Schools, maybe under the team name AGILAS, and we teach them personally how to do things from software to pitching to sponsors–I think all of the lessons that we've collectively learned will be of great help to the younger generations who decide to participate in this endeavor," Andre said.