Formula Student
Babcock’s 2023 Graduate Programme launches this month. For more information on the roles available please visit www.babcockearlycareers.com when roles open on 5 September 2022.
Babcock International is the AI Partner for Formula Student. This year the AI teams were put through their mettle as they pitted their skills and their cars in the rapid growing technology category.
Babcock has a number of FS Alumni that returned this year to mentor and support the students and teams, helping them not just in the competition but as they prepare for the next step in their early engineering careers.
For Nathan Vosper, who works for Babcock in project management, it was a chance to return to Silverstone to support the teams and reprise his role as UK Cost Judge. Here, he talks to Formula Student about his past experiences and why he’s committed to carry on supporting the event.
FS CV:
Team: SUFST – University of Southampton
Active years: 2013-2018 as a member of SUFST
2018 – present - Member of Formula Student Awards Committee
2022 – present - Formula Student UK Cost Judge
Car: Combustion with spaceframe / Combustion with hybrid aluminium monocoque with rear subframe
Roles:
- Bodywork group member (Year 1- 2013/14): member of design team for main body of STAG I.
- Head of Aerodynamics (Year 2- 2014/15): Main role included the design and manufacture of the bodywork. Introduction of sub group design teams surrounding aerodynamic components and introduction of CFD to team.
- Operations Manager (Year 3- 2015/16): Head of Business Team in charge of sponsorship and marketing for the team. Responsible for business presentation at competition. Also responsible for team logistics getting team members to and from European competitions.
- Team Leader (Year 4 – 2017/18): Responsible for day-to-day operations of the team. In charge of team’s schedule and budget for the year, and stakeholder management with the university and major sponsors. Car’s first ever Endurance finish. Top 4 in Business Presentation, Top 6 in Cost Presentation.
How did your experiences at Formula Student help prepare you for your first role?
The experiences that I had from Formula Student definitely helped to set me up for my first role which has been with Babcock International Group. Formula Student was one of the first major projects that I worked on where I had the chance to make mistakes. Making those mistakes allowed me and the team learn about ourselves but also how to overcome them as well. Also, making those mistakes in the Formula Student environment was a lot better too, because you’re less likely to make them when you get into your first role.
As well as the technical knowledge that I gained from the competition I also developed e ‘softer’ skills; teamwork, communication and stakeholder management, which have really served me in the career I have now.
I would also say the experiences that I gained from Formula Student really helped to set me above a lot of other candidates when I was applying for my industrial placement year and graduate scheme at Babcock too. Having the academic requirements for a role is mandatory, but having the hands-on experience enables you to be able to demonstrate that you’re capable of delivering something, on top of having the academic knowledge.
What skills and knowledge do you see as essential for young engineers to succeed in their future careers?
Young engineers should strive and gain exposure to strong communication and teamwork skills. In most engineering projects that I’ve been a part of, you’re almost always working in teams. It’s also important to understand what type of team player you are as well. Are you someone that gets on and gets things done or are you someone who tries to shape a team? This might help you understand what future roles would be best suited to you too.
Babcock is a company where we’re encouraged to learn and develop new technologies as well as apply and integrate them into the everyday challenges we face so it’s important to stay up to date with new and emerging technologies too. This can be done through ‘extra’ reading and also through experiences that you’ll learn from by doing projects through university, or formula student. It’s also good to become opinionated about current affairs within industries that you’re interested in. Formula student is a good example of this, especially with the development of the driverless aspect of the competition over the next couple of years, and how these innovations might lead to market innovations in the years to come too.
Your own technical capabilities are also essential, and strive to be well rounded when it comes to software packages too. Look to develop yourself when it comes to CAD and coding software too, as the more you have to offer companies, the more likely you’ll be successful.
Babcock’s 2023 Graduate Programme launches this month. For more information on the roles available please visit www.babcockearlycareers.com when roles open on 5 September 2022.