- Competition challenges students to design and build the most capable remote control four‑wheel drive vehicles
- Programme aims to encourage young people to pursue automotive careers
- Students from Pine Rivers State School in Australia celebrate after defeating 130 young people from 12 countries in the world final
- Jaguar Land Rover’s education programme will engage five million young people by 2020
Whitley, UK, Monday 11 July 2016 – Teams from Australia took first and second place in the Land Rover 4x4 In Schools Global Education Challenge, an innovative initiative that has helped the company reach more than three million young people since 1999.
The team of 16‑year‑olds was named Land Rover 4x4 in Schools world champions at the event held in Coventry, UK. The teams spent 3‑6 months designing, building and testing miniature remote‑controlled 4x4 vehicles to complete challenging off‑road tracks in regional and national finals. They were judged on all elements of their projects from engineering and marketing to design and travelled from countries all over the world including the USA, South Africa and Brazil to compete.
The winning ‘Wombat Warriors’ team impressed the judges with the best overall performance and verbal presentation awards and achieved an excellent driving challenge. The tough test track included a wire bridge and rock crawl as vehicles travelled through and round two Range Rover Evoque Convertibles. The winners also received an Arkwright scholarship from Land Rover, a scholarship at Harper Adams University and a Jaguar Land Rover Academy e‑mentoring programme which will team them up with the company’s engineering graduates.
Team leader Lily Eiseman said: “This project was a great way for us to learn more about engineering careers and develop our skills. Teamwork played a huge part in our achievement and we’ve spent around 600 hours working on the project over the past six months. We’d all thoroughly recommend the Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Challenge to others – just go for it!”
This year a new Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) towing challenge was unveiled at the world final to celebrate Land Rover’s exclusive Title and Innovation Partnership. Students used their miniature 4x4s to tow a scale version of the Land Rover BAR training boat around the challenging course. Land Rover BAR sailors Ed Powys and Bleddyn Mon presented the ‘Best Trailer Award’ and spoke to the students about their ambitious plans for the 2017 America’s Cup.
Bleddyn Mon said: “We are delighted to support the Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Technology Challenge. By welcoming school groups to our new ‘Land Rover BAR Tech Deck’ education centre and getting involved in the World Final, we hope to inspire more young people to consider opportunities and careers within STEM subjects and the marine sector in the future."
Land Rover recently supported the launch of the new Land Rover BAR Tech Deck at the team’s base in Portsmouth, which offers educational visits for Key Stage 3 school pupils. Young people visiting the centre will learn about designing, building and racing in the America’s Cup, as well as the roles science and technology play in designing boats that fly, which will help both organisations engage with 300,000 school pupils from across the UK each year.
Launching the hugely successful Land Rover 4x4 in Schools competition globally will help Jaguar Land Rover to engage with five million young people by 2020, particularly in Brazil and Slovakia where new manufacturing plants will be based. The challenge introduces students to the exciting world of engineering and helps them to build skills, experiences, friendships and memories which will stay with them throughout their lives.
