Chicago high schoolers crowned national champions in STEM Racing competition

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A group of Chicago-based students showed off their most recent achievement in the world of STEM Racing.

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Organizers said it's the world's largest school-based engineering competition.

On Saturday, McLaren Chicago hosted a celebration for the high schoolers who were just crowned the 2025 National Champions.

The model Formula 1 cars were developed and engineered by students from University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Their designs compete against teams all over the world.

"We ended up walking out as national champions, and we're on our way to Singapore this September, so we'll be representing Team USA, along with two other teams, and we cannot wait," Taara Sajdeh with AEROS Racing said.

The AEROS Racing team is not only responsible for the design of their car but also raising money and building support like a real F1 team.

Maya Livni with AEROS Racing explained there are two sides of the project.

"There's the building the car... That's a really big process of just making it as aerodynamic as possible," Livni said. "The smallest changes make the biggest difference. And then you've got the enterprise side, which is marketing, sponsorships and getting people to be our fans."

Through the process of the competition the students take with them real-world experience in a variety of disciplines.

"I'm learning basic you know, engineering skills along with advanced engineering skills," Aran Malhotra with AEROS Racing said. "I'm learning how to manufacture, how to use different machines, how to do virtual simulations you know, all of the above."

Last year AEROS Racing competed in Saudi Arabia at the world finals.

The team has already secured its spot for this year's World Finals in Singapore in September.