Hayabusa Racing is composed of the best and brightest students in Japan. We are aiming to become World Champions with the most innovative, fastest, creative, and strongest team while being sustainable.
Our team
Why We Do it
Our greatest motivation in this activity is a sense of urgency.
The competitions that exist in Japan today, such as the National College of Technology Robot Contest, are highly technical but are not graded in terms of fundraising or project management. Furthermore, the number of students who ultimately choose science in Japan is low, around 17%, and furthermore, with AI and web development attracting attention in terms of software, fewer students are interested in “monozukuri” (manufacturing). Furthermore, although Japan has a high level of technology compared to the rest of the world, it is said that Japan lacks the ability to monetize and fund its technological capabilities.
When project manager Rona took on the challenge of competing in the world championships, he saw students on other teams, even those in grades below his own, doing things that even adults could not do, such as collecting sponsors, flying a car body into space, and advertising in movie theaters, and he felt a tremendous “difference. I thought that if there were more students like these in Japan, we might be able to solve these problems.
Also, as a competition, it is difficult to make a car body fast, but building a car body itself is easier compared to robot contests, and students who are not previously interested in STEM (science) fields can easily enter the competition from marketing and public relations perspectives, for example. Above all, we hope that by producing the world's best team from Japan, not only other students but also teachers and parents nationwide will believe that students in Japan can do it if they try hard enough and take on the challenge.
Daily Activities
Our activities are mainly conducted online, and we gather in person as needed.
In addition to design, manufacturing, fundraising, and environmental activities directly related to the competition, we are also working on hosting events (planned) and sharing information on social media to promote STEM Racing in Japan.
Events
As a team we also participate in many events in order to raise awareness of STEM Racing as well as to teach elementary school students the fun of STEM education, in order to both facilitate STEM education in Japan as well as to create a sustainable STEM Racing community in Japan
YOXO Festival
The first event we ever attended as a team was the YOXO festival in Yokohama. Here. we set up a booth where children ( and adults ) could make an STEM Racing Primary car, focusing on the fun of hands-on experience to make something fun and that moves!
No. Attendees: 200+ Families
F1 Tokyo Fan Festival
The largest event we have participated to this day, the entire event aligned with the Suzuka GP, with drivers such as Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson coming to our booth. We were not only able to teach children how to make the cars but also allowed them to actually run these cars on track and compete with each other.
Booth Visitors: 1000+
Workshop Participants: 100+ students
TiB Workshop
A workshop for a small group going not only through the creation of Primary Cars, but teaching them about physics, fluid dynamics, sponsorships, and aspects necessary in order to participate in STEM Racing. Also allowed for the participants to race their cars on track.
Name
As a racing team, we wanted a name that sounded fast and represented Japan, so after brainstorming together, we decided on ‘Hayabusa,’ the fastest bird in the world. We also subtly considered the Shinkansen ‘Hayabusa,’ as many of our members are passionate about mechanical engineering.
Founding the team
Our team's project manager, Rona, participated in the 2023 F1 in Schools World Finals, where his team lost on the first round of knockout racing, and preformed terribly compared even to teams who were much younger than us. After the world finals, he decided to gather the best and brightests from around Tokyo to become World Champions. The team he made was Hayabusa Racing.