PTC programme drives Scalextric Challenge

Launched in February 2009 by motoring expert, James May, the Scalextric4schools Challenge is designed to support and motivate UK school students in science, technology, engineering and maths. "We've worked very closely with PTC to develop an extremely exciting project that will help students learn about design and engineering by building and racing their very own Scalextric cars," commented Paul Chandler, Scalextric marketing manager. PTC's programme is mapped to the UK national education curriculum and directly supports the delivery of STEM related subjects in the classroom. Students who participate in the challenge receive a one year licence of PTC's 3D CAD software, Pro/Engineer, to be used at home to take part in the challenge, prepare for class work, and complete homework assignments. Teams entering the competition have four members who adopt the roles of team manager, designer, media and marketing and, of course, the driver. The teams will be assessed in three categories: Design, Make, and Race. Entries must be submitted electronically in the categories Design and Make by 30 April, 2010. The Design category will concern the design and development of the team's car. Entries will include Pro/Engineer part and assembly files, team planning and details of sponsors and other contributors to the team. Students are also encouraged to submit details of any mechanical testing and manufacture such as injection moulding, rapid prototyping, and vacuum forming, as well as any virtual testing using Pro/Engineer for component fit and function, photorealistic rendering, mass properties, etc. The final assessment will be held in the form of an exciting car racing festival on a standard Scalextric track. For maximum suspense, the layout of the track will not be revealed until the day of the race at Donnington Motor Racing Park on 23 May, 2010.