The Fraser Coast Technology Challenge is an annual youth and technology event held in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland has been a committed supporter of this event. The Fraser Coast Technology Challenge aims to help develop efficient, environmentally friendly, vehicles as forms of transport, as well as using emerging technologies in ways to help further students education. Schools from across Australia and New Zealand enter teams in the challenge. 2012 was the 10 year anniversary of the first running of the event.
24 Hour Endurance Event
The blue-ribbon event is the 24-hour Human Powered Vehicle endurance race. The race runs from 12:00 pm Saturday to 12:00 pm Sunday on the second weekend of September – the weekend of the Technology Challenge Event. School HPV teams arrive at Maryborough throughout the Thursday and Friday of the week. All teams undergo HPV scrutineering and team license checks on the Friday afternoon. All teams camp on the two school ovals of the school on Friday night. Following the Saturday morning official race briefing, the streets are closed and a 2-hour practice/qualifying session is held for all teams. The other minor events run during the morning, before the race start at 12:00 pm. The inaugural race in 2002 was won by the local Open Boys team from Maryborough State High School. Maryborough State High School teams won the 24-hour event three years in a row. In 2005, Centenary Heights State High School broke the local team's three-year consecutive winning streak, before Maryborough took back the title in 2006. In 2007, Nanango State High School began a streak of three consecutive overall wins. In Recent years, several different schools have won the 24-hour race.
Track
In the early years, the track was 1.2 km long. The current track is 1.53 km long, and forms a rectangle around Maryborough State High School and Central SS. The two important sections of the track for overtaking are the hairpin corner at the end of the start/finish straight, and the 0.45 km long hill rise on the back side of the school.
Winners
Since the first staging of this event, the number of entrants has increased dramatically and now includes many categories of HPVs, including Tandem and Hybrid. The Technology Challenge was originally modelled on the RACV Energy Breakthrough held in Maryborough, Victoria. One of the original organisers from the Victorian event helped instigate and organise the first Queensland event after he relocated to Maryborough, Qld. 2007 saw the first non-Queensland entry, from Parade College in Victoria. At the time they were considered the National Champions, but they only managed fourth. In 2014, the Victorian Rode Rage Team entered and finished 4th overall.
Other events held at the Challenge include: Dragsters, Robotics, Solar Powered boats, Solar powered cars and the Smilie Pushcarts. The top New Zealand Dragsters also come and compete against the top Queensland dragsters. The sponsors of the event, Fraser Coast Regional Council, Queensland Events, RACQ, Ergon Energy, Handy Hire, IP Telco, ABSComTech, Station Square Shopping Centre, Rotary Club of Maryborough, Rotary Club of Maryborough Sunrise and Fraser Coast Chronicle continue to see the event grow in professionalism and enthusiasm, providing a fantastic platform for young people to learn through technology and teamwork in a fun and safe environment.
