Their 'car' is a miniature racing car machined from balsa wood for the annual F1 in Schools Technology Challenge.

The school entered two five-member teams in the Macarthur division of the competition.

Team Precision, featuring year 10 students, and year 9's The Fifth Element, out-performed four other schools to make it to the starting grid of the state final next Friday.

Wild-card entry St Gregory's College, Campbelltown, will also compete in the final.

The challenge is organised by the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation to encourage students into engineering careers.

To compete, students must design, analyse, manufacture, test and then race their F1 car which can reach speeds of 80km/h.

The students use world-class equipment which is set up at Magdalene school - the same technology used by Boeing to design its Airbus 380.

Teacher Danny Avalos said the challenge had enticed more students to study engineering.

"We were struggling to get numbers in engineering but now we have 100 kids in years 9 and 10," he said.

The students collaborate with industry experts including staff at Nepean Engineering at Narellan to learn about project management and marketing - some of the things they are judged on before race day.

The teams must explain their marketing strategy to a panel of judges and give a presentation on their car's design.

During the scrutineering phase, three engineers examine the car to ensure it meets the criteria and then the chequered flag is waved.

If successful at the state final, the Magdalene High School teams will represent Macarthur at the national finals.

¦Other local schools which competed on the day were Ingleburn and John Therry Catholic high schools.