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Harlem United F1 in Schools Team to Defend State Title

On Friday, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and the Montana Office of Public Instruction will host the 2nd Annual Montana F1 in Schools Competition on the Montana Tech Campus in Butte.

Local team "Harlem United" has their sights set on defending their State Championship title. Last year the Harlem United team had an extremely successful season winning Best Engineering Design, Best Pit Display, at Grand Champion at the State level. At the North American Championships the team walked away with a National Championship Trophy for Best Portfolio Design.

Seven of the original eight member team are returning this year: Team Leader - Jazzamyn Benson, Design Engineer - Damon Adams, Manufacturing Engineer - Darrius Kulbeck, Marketing & Social Media Manager - Terron Gray, Graphic Designer - Shailee Fetter, Resource Manager - Adrian Kulbeck and 3D Printing Specialist – Sheldon Shields.

Harlem United is one of the many teams from across the state vying for the prestige of lifting the Montana State Champions trophy at this Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational challenge.

F1 in schools is a U.K.-based nonprofit that is designed to interest students from around the world in STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - careers by involving them in a hands-on project using science and engineering principles and skills.

Over the course of the project, students developed a marketing & social media plan, designed a car using Computer Aided Design, changed the designs to computer aided manufacturing instructions, machined the car from balsa wood using a Computer Numerical Control router, tested the model, and finally, raced their carbon dioxide powered cars.

This past year has been extremely hectic for the Harlem United team. They have set a goal to not only make the F1 in Schools National Competition in Brooklyn, Michigan but to surpass last year and make it to the World Competition as well.

Also participating in this year's event is a second Harlem F1 team, Warrior Racing. Team members are Denise Stanley, Xavier Hawley, Hunter Gray, Marcus Castillo, and Khey'shawn Skidmore.

F1 in Schools is designed to interest students from around the world in STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - careers by involving them in a hands-on project using science and engineering principles and skills.

You can follow the Harlem United team journey on their webpage – http://www.harlemunitedf1.com or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/harlemunitedf1.