Students from Košice win a place in the land rover 4X4 in schools world finals

Nearly 50 talented future engineers from schools in Nitra, Košice, Vráble and Bratislava met at Jaguar Land Rover’s Slovakia plant for the Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Technology Challenge national finals.

A team of students from the Gymnázium Poštová in Košice went on to win a place in the Land Rover 4x4 in Schools World Finals which will be held at the University of Warwick in the UK, on April 13 - 16 with a radio-controlled, 4x4 vehicle that they designed and built.

Winning team (source: Martina Kovacs)

Success in the Slovak National Final of the global education challenge saw the student team, Columba Racing, beat stiff competition from nine other school teams in the country to secure success.

Software coding

Student teams use software coding to design and build a remote-controlled scale model four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle capable of negotiating obstacles and road surfaces including water dips, a rope bridge, and rocks – all on a bespoke Land Rover track replicating the capabilities of a full-size SUV. Teams are scored on track performance and also present their work and knowledge of vehicle design and engineering to a panel of judges.

“As the automotive industry continues to drive towards an autonomous, connected, electric and shared future, we are passionate about inspiring the next generation of engineering talent,” said Alexander Wortberg, Operations Director, Nitra Plant, as quoted by the press release.

Third time in a row

The engineering industry requires creative individuals who are capable of problem solving for our future business, he added. The Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Challenge replicates a ‘real-life’ work situation where we can all come together to share ideals to resolve a complex problem.

“This challenge is an excellent opportunity for young people to work together to gain awareness and understanding of project management and other key skills, as well as linking into the STEM initiative,” he noted.

Team Manager, Juraj Marcin said it was great that their school managed to win for the third time. "The hardest part was to overcome ourselves, as last year we raised the bar high. We are looking forward to the world finals very much and we hope to be successful there."