How were you involved with the Formula Student competition and what made you join?
I was the Team Manager for Team Bath Racing’s 2012 entry. Alongside the general team management, I undertook project on exhaust and silencer optimisation as part of my degree.
I think I learned about Formula Student whilst I was searching for universities at the end of school. Having grown up around cars and motorbikes, it really appealed to me, so I factored it into my university selection. At Bath University it is easy to incorporate Formula Student into your degree, so becoming involved was easy!
What was your biggest challenge during FS and how did you overcome it?
Personally, the biggest challenge was always time! Combining a challenging degree with all the associated coursework with overseeing the whole car design and build was exceptionally demanding. You always want to produce the best car possible, but at times this meant a lot of sacrifices in other areas of your life to spend your whole time in the build room!
Tell us about your current role!
After graduating, I spent many years designing engine components for high performance combustion engines at Triumph Motorcycles and Mercedes High Performance Powertrains. Although I thoroughly enjoyed that experience, I was then ready for a change.
At the start of 2020 I joined IPG Automotive as a Sales Engineer for the UK and Ireland markets. IPG Automotive develop industry-leading simulation software and hardware for virtual test driving and work with companies at the forefront of vehicle development, making it very exciting!
Although the role is primarily sales, my background working as an engineer in the automotive industry has been massively beneficial when it comes to understanding and helping our clients.
How did your experiences at Formula Student help prepare you for your career?
In my opinion, Formula Student was the most beneficial part of my degree. In lectures you are taught a lot of valuable theory, but it can often feel abstract and hard to relate to. As a result, it is easy to forget that information once you’ve passed your exams. By designing and building your own car from scratch you are forced to apply everything you have learnt to a real-world situation and that process really cements the knowledge.
The experience you gain getting hands on building, optimising, and diagnosing every vehicle component is also invaluable when going into a career in vehicle design.
What skills and knowledge do you see as essential for young engineers to succeed in their future careers?
A good grasp of engineering fundamentals will always set you in good stead for any engineering role, but more and more this knowledge will be used in conjunction with modelling or simulation tools. A practical experience of industry standard tools will be very beneficial to any aspiring engineer.
You can also never underestimate the value of hands-on experience. Formula Student is one of the absolute best ways to gain experience. Things as simple as recognising a vehicle part, its function and failure modes are second nature once you’ve built a Formula Student car, but this knowledge shouldn’t be taken for granted – many graduates go into industry without it.
How should teams get the most out of IPG Automotive’s Formula CarMaker package?
IPG Automotive CarMaker can be used throughout the design cycle. It can be used to make design decisions long before any prototypes are available, saving teams time and cost. Whether you are tuning parameters or testing a new concept, everything can be done faster and cheaper in simulation!
For the best results, I would start by creating and validating a model of the previous years car. Once you have a validated model, you can test your concepts for the next car and compare results in an entirely repeatable test. Start with the basics, such as steady state tests to find maximum lateral load, acceleration etc, then build up to full dynamic lap time simulation.
What advice would you give to young engineers seeking employment post-grad?
Aim for something you are passionate about and keep an open mind.
Passion is key, it’s much easier to excel at a job that you love. It doesn’t matter whether you love if for the role, the company or the product, the important thing is that you go into work every day motivated.
You may also be surprised what motivates you when you get into industry, so keep an open mind. I left university knowing that I wanted to do powertrain design, so I never considered any other options. While I have no regrets, I realised over the years that there are many other roles that I would also enjoy that I would never have considered before – hence the move to sales!
What is your fondest moment of the competition?
I think it was during the first few laps of the Endurance or Sprint in Formula Student Austria. The commentator thought there was a timing error because our car was so much faster than anything that had been on track up to that point. I’m sure the time was later beaten by a couple of the top teams, but for a few minutes we were very happy and later got 2nd place in the Endurance!
Please can you provide a recommendation for anyone thinking of taking part in the competition!
I would recommend going to an event before you get started, you’ll get a good feel for the competition and some great inspiration for your design. Also, read the rule book carefully, then read it again. We nearly entered an illegal car after we overlooked a minor rule change!