Formula Student
How were you involved with the Formula Student competition?
I joined the Centaurus Racing Team from University of Thessaly in 2013. We worked on an Internal Combustion car and I was involved in the Business planning, Fundraising and Project Management in the team.
What's your current role and with which company?
After graduating, I worked as a global operations manager at Foodpanda GmbH. I’m an Associate Consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and I advise companies in banking, insurance and industrial goods. The ability to work in multiple industries with experienced executives and travelling around the world is really great!
What made you join the competition?
When someone told me that we are building a formula vehicle from scratch, I was immediately amazed! I had no second thoughts, I just joined the team!
How did your experiences at Formula Student help prepare you for your first role?
Designing & constructing a fully operating vehicle requires discipline from each and every team member. Furthermore, every day, the team had a new issue, which actually helped me improve my problem solving skills. Most people in our university were convinced that we would not be able to complete the construction of the first formula vehicle in the history of our university, especially in the middle of the Greek recession. This experience proved to me that a dedicated and hard-working team with a clear vision can achieve about anything, irrespective of how crazy this might sound in the beginning.
My FS experience gave me the confidence I needed to enter the job market. My fundraising experience had also helped me improve my communication and networking skills, which definitely facilitated the job-hunting process.
What was your biggest challenge during FS and how did you overcome it?
I was leading the fundraising initiative of the team in 2012-2013, which was one of the most difficult fiscal years in the modern history of Greece. Potential sponsors had to cut their expenses significantly to cope with the new financial standards, so as a result sponsoring student teams was low in their agenda. Nonetheless, we overcame the problem by using a collaborative approach. All the team members helped in any way they could (from boosting our social media, to preparing fundraising brochures and meeting with company owners to promote our project). It was this teamwork that helped us stay positive throughout the year and finally manage to secure the funds we needed.
What advice would you give to young engineers seeking employment post-grad?
When you interview with a company, you need to show that you understand their business and prove to them why you would prefer working there compared to other companies. Understand how your experiences (from academics, social life, sports teams, extra-curricular activities) could help you prove why you’re a good fit to the company.
What is your fondest moment of the competition?
When we won the Business Plan presentation award in Varano de Melegari in 2013!
What are you most looking forward to seeing in the next 20 years of Formula Student?
Anything that would bring disruption to the automotive industry. This might include autonomous vehicles today, but it’s probably (or hopefully) unpredictable for the next 20 years. By the way, I am not sure if this exists, but FS should include some prized for the most innovative teams (we do – check out our 2017 awards! - editor).
Please can you provide a recommendation for anyone thinking of taking part in the competition!
It’s not a simple task. If you think you can work on it on and off for the next couple of months, then probably forget about it. However, if you feel like doing it, it’s totally worth it! It’s definitely a life-changing experience that you will never forget!