Groups of young people are being challenged to come up with unique new designs for radio controlled 4×4 vehicles with the added incentive of actually building them to a working model.

Brighouse business man and renowned entrepreneur Andrew Denford’s ‘4×4 in Schools’ is an initiative which is planned to work alongside his already internationally praised ‘F1 in Schools’ initiative. The scheme will work with Land Rover’s Tracknavchallenge.

The Land Rover and 4×4 vehicles projects were originally conjoined together a number of years ago before they split into two separate entities but now they are firmly back together, sealed by the Institution of Engineering Technology along with SEMTA (the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies) and JCB, to create this new schools challenge.

The project is aimed at key stage 3, 4 and 5 pupils or indeed youngsters aged 11 right up to 18 years of age, offering them an perfect insight into what it takes to become a true engineer.

Just ice the ‘F1 in Schools’ project, which requires youngsters to design, manufacture and race F1 radio-controlled vehicles, groups of four to six students are tasked to do the same with 4×4 models.

The students will design the radio-controlled vehicles and also setup the accounts plan, prospectus and indeed presentation of their vehicle entry. They will then be challenged to race against other schools in regional heats.

Winners of the regional heats will then go through to the countries national and coveted final to try and achieve the title of the 4×4 in schools Technology Challenge UK National Champions.

The project has been especially and conveniently structured to compliment GCSE subjects including engineering, maths, science and design and technology, as well as the all new engineering diploma that is available to students across the country.