Bow Valley Students Compete on Global STEM Racing Stage

A team of Bow Valley students competing in an international STEM Racing program is bringing its work home with a public showcase on April 24.

The Alpine Allies, a five-person team of Banff and Canmore secondary school students, have spent the past two years designing, building, and racing miniature CO₂-powered cars as part of a global competition that blends technical performance with branding, sponsorship, and presentation.

Alexis Day, Grace Mayberry-Hjertaas, Caden Smith, Adda, and Maelle Turner recently competed as the only Canadian team at the STEM Racing National Championship in Charlotte, N.C. The team said representing the region has been a defining part of their experience.

“For this competition, we’re the only team from Canada, and I’m proud to represent where we’re from,” said Caden Smith.

STEM Racing is a co-curricular program affiliated with Formula One in which students design and manufacture small race cars powered by compressed carbon dioxide cartridges.

The cars race down a straight track at high speed, often with results decided in fractions of a second, but performance on the track is only one part of the competition. Teams are also judged on engineering design, project management, branding, sponsorship development and formal presentations.

For the Alpine Allies, the work extends far beyond race day. The team focuses each week on refining individual components and testing how changes to the wings, body and wheels affect performance.

“We wouldn’t do a full car version every time,” said Maelle Turner. “We would just work on specific parts, like different wing designs, body designs and wheel designs, and test which combination worked best.”

The car is built from a dense foam material supplied by the competition and shaped by the team. Components such as wings are created using 3D printing, while the wheels are fitted with steel bearings to improve performance.

One of the team’s key improvements this year was reducing the car’s weight by about 30 grams.

“The whole car was 30 grams lighter, which is really significant,” said Maelle Turner.

Beyond engineering, the students operate as a “team enterprise,” dividing responsibilities across project management, manufacturing and branding. New to the team this year, Alexis Day took charge of designing the team’s visual identity and pit display, a large booth used to showcase their work to judges.

“I created our logo and our brand guide and made sure everything stayed cohesive,” said Day. “I also created our pit display, it’s about eight by three feet, where we show our design timeline, our roles and our car.”

Unlike many competitors, the Alpine Allies operate largely outside a formal school program, relying heavily on community support and mentorship.

“Because our team isn’t as affiliated with a school as other teams, we’ve had to reach out a lot more to the community and mentors,” said Day. “We’ve had to gain a lot of the experience on our own.”

That approach has helped the team secure about 27 sponsors and build relationships with local businesses.

“We wouldn’t have gotten to the level we did without that support,” said Smith.

The team has also hosted outreach events throughout the year, demonstrating their car and sharing their experience with the community. Those efforts will culminate in a public showcase at Banff Social on April 24.

“We’ll be showing the car, talking about our process and celebrating the season,” said Adda Turner.

Looking ahead, the students say they plan to continue refining their work as they prepare for the next season, which begins in September.

“I think that with more experience, we’ll be able to stay on track with our timeline next year, have more time to work on the car and test it, and develop everything to be as competitive as possible,” said Maelle Turner.