KES aspiring engineers win Land Rover 4×4 regional final

Pupils at King Edward’s School, Bath have a place in the Land Rover 4×4 Schools Technology Challenge National Final

A King Edward’s School, Bath (KES) team of aspiring engineers have won the South West regional final of the Land Rover 4×4 in Schools Technology Challenge, securing themselves a place in the UK National Final in March.

The Land Rover 4×4 in Schools Challenge, which requires teams to build a radio controlled four-wheel drive (4×4) vehicle which can successfully navigate and complete obstacles on an off-road test track, thereby emulating the capabilities of a full size 4×4 vehicle, attracted teams from across the region.  The KES team, working together under their racing name of ‘11th Hour 4×4’ won the Development Class (open to team members aged 11-19yrs) and picked up an additional award for best engineered vehicle.  The team will now go on to compete in the National Final at The British Motor Museum, Warwick, and will be hoping they can make it one stage further to the World Final.

During the regional heat the KES team had to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding of their vehicle’s suspension, chassis and wheels.  The day involved a verbal presentation and engineering interview ahead of testing their vehicle on a demanding obstacle course. 

Talking about the day, Eve Chillcott, from the KES team, said: “As soon as we arrived at the venue we had to set up our pit display, before an official welcome from Land Rover, who introduced us to the competition and the track.”

“First things first, we had our verbal presentation where we talked to the judges about the team and our journey through the competition,” continued Eve. “This was very nerve racking but we performed even better than we hoped. After this we had scrutineering which we passed with no issues and then we came to the track phase.  This was a challenge as our car’s suspension had broken, so instead we had to use the competition’s spare car, (and with it a point deduction) however, with Rafi’s steady driving and the rest of the team chipping in for a few obstacles we only made one error. After this we moved onto the engineering interview where we had to answer technical questions about our car.”

When it came to the winners’ presentation, Eve said: “As our name was called for best engineered car we were very excited, but finding out we had won our class and would progress to the National Final was amazing!  Now we have a lot more work to do to get ready for that!”

The Land Rover 4×4 in Schools Challenge aims to raise awareness, interest and enthusiasm in engineering through the practical application of Design & Technology, Mathematics and Science.  The Challenge’s organisers, Land Rover, also encourage teams to identify sponsors to support their project and the KES team were delighted that local companies, Ashford Homes, Cobb Farr and Rotork, supported their efforts.

The National Final takes place on 22-23 March 2018.

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