Off road experience for JCB teens

Posted 31 May 2011

Teenagers from a specialist engineering school were rewarded for their good grades with a day driving off road vehicles at Harper Adams in Shropshire.

The four students, from the JCB Academy in Rocester, Staffordshire, were the winners of an assignment set by staff at the University College.

The task involved the design and build of a radio controlled vehicle which was then tested on a bespoke off road track.

Today their hard work was rewarded when they were allowed to drive some of the vehicles at Harper Adams, including a Hagglunds all-terrain vehicle, a tractor and a mini digger.

They also experienced a Land Rover Defender, military personnel carrier and a rally car, driven by Harper engineering experts.

Senior Engineering Lecturer at Harper Adams, David Allan, said: “This day follows on from an event in September when around 120 students from the JCB Academy visited us for an intensive training week.

“They learnt about skills such as suspension, construction and chassis design before completing the assignment within six weeks. We then visited the Academy to judge the designs and today has been a chance to formally recognise their success.”

Principal of Harper Adams, Dr David Llewellyn, met the students to congratulate them and presented them with a small trophy to take back to the Academy.

The JCB Academy is designed to produce the engineers and business leaders of the future, while still teaching the students core GCSE subjects.

For more information about JCB Academy’s involvement with Harper Adams, visit http://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/press/article.cfm?ID=201141