Exeter students crowned 4x4 champions

A team of students from Clyst Vale Community College in Exeter have been crowned the national champions in Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Technology Challenge UK Finals, one of the UK’s most successful school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) challenges.

Over the past six months, thousands of young people aged 11-19 have participated in the Challenge and have been designing, building and testing miniature remote-controlled 4x4 vehicles with support from Jaguar Land Rover engineering graduate mentors. In each stage of the Challenge, teams must successfully negotiate a series of obstacles and tasks with their vehicles and present their work and knowledge of 4x4 vehicle designs to a panel of judges and have their remote control car put under intense scrutiny by vehicle design specialists, against a comprehensive set of rules and regulations.

Following success in regional finals held across the UK, 26 teams, totalling over100 students from as far afield as Scotland, Northern Ireland and its first ever international team from Portugal, battled it out in the final.

The ‘Clystalians’ team won an Arkwright Scholarship from lead sponsor Jaguar Land Rover, a £1,000 scholarship for Harper Adams University and the prestigious Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Technology Challenge trophy.

Team Manager Matthew Davison, aged 14, said: “We didn’t expect to win today but everything went perfectly. Our car had a solar cell, carbon body and carbon chassis plates which definitely contributed to our success. We’ve all learnt so much in the Challenge and after the around the Design Studio, we’re really interested in engineering careers at Jaguar Land Rover.”

Team member Willow Tatman, aged 14, added: “The secret of our success is teamwork; we’re all really good friends and have worked well together. This competition has been so much fun; it’s an amazing atmosphere and has been great to see everyone come together with their innovative ideas. The challenge has showed us that it’s possible for young people to get into engineering careers, which we hadn’t considered before.”

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Design Director, said, “Creative thinking, innovation and problem solving have always been some of the fundamental reasons behind Jaguar Land Rover’s success. It’s extremely important we develop these core skills in the next generation of Jaguar Land Rover designers and engineers so we continue to produce vehicles which meet our customers’ needs. The Challenge develops students’ creative and hands-on skills and highlights the importance of team-working which plays an important part in our success. I hope the tours of our Design Studio and Virtual Innovation Centre, as well as the Challenge overall, will inspire more young people to pursue design and engineering careers.”

Andrew Denford, Chairman of Engineering in Motion, which runs the Land Rover 4x4 Challenge, commented: “The Land Rover 4x4 in Schools programme increases the engagement of young people with STEM subjects through the practical application of design and technology, mathematics and science. It is an excellent opportunity for students to work in teams and gain an awareness and understanding of key skills and project management. All the teams have produced outstanding work and made it very difficult for the judges.