The inaugural Guyana-Monaco Mousetrap Car Grand Prix was held on April 11 at Roraima Duke Lodge, with six participating schools – Annandale Secondary; Diamond Secondary; Johanna Cecelia Secondary; St. Roses High; St. Stanislaus College and Westminister Secondary. The winning schools – Annandale Secondary, Johanna Cecelia Secondary and St. Stanislaus College each received cash prizes to develop their STEM/Physics laboratories.
It is the local qualifier to enter the Monaco Mousetrap Car Grand Prix, an international competition held annually in the Principality of Monaco. It was created by Marco Casiraghi under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco, to promote Science and Engineering to students in a fun, exciting way. The competition saw students working together, using their innovation and incorporating the Laws of Physics in their attempts to win.
Three categories were open for participation – Acceleration, which assessed the vehicle that travelled to a 10-meter line in the shortest amount of time; Endurance, which measured the furthest possible distance travelled, and Innovation and Creativity, which evaluated the most creative, unique contraption. St. Stanislaus College and two groups of participants from Diamond Secondary copped the first, second and third place awards respectively for Acceleration, while Johanna Cecilia Secondary, Annandale Secondary, and St. Rose’s High were awarded the first, second and third place awards for Endurance. In the category of Innovation and Creativity, Annandale Secondary and St. Stanislaus College attained first and second place each.
The winners of each category will be entered for consideration in the international competition in Monaco. If successful in gaining entry, the winning team from Guyana will compete for a chance to represent the country in Monaco. If a Guyanese school wins the international competition, they will receive tickets to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix from a prime location (either on the circuit or in the prestigious Tunnel Riva), and an expense-paid trip to Monaco for one week.
In her remarks, Onecia Johnson, Human Resource Manager said, “Today, it is a pleasure for me to witness the different schools compete among each other to secure a place in the international competition. I know that much time was dedicated to building of your models to work with the mousetraps and to garner a creative outcome, so we can only expect nothing but creative innovations.”
Garri Fraser, Local Content Officer at SBM Offshore Guyana commented, “At SBM Offshore Guyana, we provide numerous opportunities for young Guyanese to harness and develop their skills in this regard. I hope that as you have examined the laws of physics in building your cars, and as you learn more about the industry, and the potential careers you have in the sector, that you also consider that role that you can one day play in this burgeoning industry.”
Mr. Marti DeSouza, Deputy Chief Education Officer Responsible for Amerindian and Hinterland Education Development expressed his gratitude to the company for inviting the Ministry of Education to be a part of the competition, and remarked, “The Ministry of Education is very much thankful to SBM for being a part of this activity. We are very excited to be a part of the Guyana-Monaco Mousetrap Car Grand Prix.”
Tiffany Brimmer of Diamond Secondary shared her process of creating the mousetrap car, saying, “First, I had to research the design of a speed car and to research the meanings and why these things need to be put in place in order for the car to work, and what would happen if they weren’t in place. Once I understood that, that was the basic foundation of understanding the car and fixing it and tweaking it so that it could go faster.”
Kevon Wilson, student of Annandale Secondary, and the first-place winner of the Endurance category shared, “It was kind of hectic getting everything together with the timespan that we had. It came out good and that was the first time that we actually tried it. We had some difficulties with the car actually moving, so we had to increase the diameter on the gear so it could actually move.”
The inaugural Guyana-Monaco Mousetrap Car Grand Prix is a collaboration between SBM Offshore Guyana and the Ministry of Education.
