MY ENGINEERING JOURNEY

Beginnings

While studying at Coventry University, I successfully applied to undertake an industrial placement year and found myself working in the road-car design department at AP Racing.  Looking back at my initial year with the company, I will openly admit I’m not sure that I fully understood the scope of AP Racing’s work – however, things quickly changed. And, having impressed the team during my placement year, I was invited to return in a full-time position upon the completion of my degree. 

2010-13 

Design engineer, AP Racing 

In August 2010, I returned to the road-car design department working on initial concepts and designs for a variety of car parts. Following three years in this role, an opportunity to move into a more customer-facing role became available. While still within the road-car department, the new position moved away from the design aspect of my previous role, and focused more heavily on customer-facing project management, technical and trackside support with customers.

2014-16 

Road OE key account engineer

This role offered me a unique opportunity to see a number of projects through from start to end – having designed the parts in my previous role, but getting to take them testing in my new role. While it also came with a steep learning curve, the position enabled me to work with a series of high-profile customers and absorb a wealth of knowledge from my AP Racing colleagues. 

It was during this time that I worked on the project I’m most proud of – the Bugatti Chiron front caliper. As a young engineer, I worked on the part from initial concept through to final design, when the transition to a more customer-facing role enabled me to follow the project through manufacturing and production, and even to testing in Europe – where I was fortunate to test drive the car. 

2016 to present

F1 race engineer

At the end of 2015, a colleague retired and I moved into the race side of the technical sales department. At the time, this included overseeing the F1 customers but has since progressed to include MotoGP and Australian V8 Supercars, along with other high-end race customers. The requirements of this role often put me trackside for the majority of the year – working alongside the track teams and engineers across a number of race series. However, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 soon changed this and the role has since become a more office-based position. 

One of the best things about working in my role is the variety that I am afforded. I started in an office role more than a decade ago, but I always knew I wanted to move into a more dynamic role, where I could travel and work alongside our customers.

The skills difference is also a huge positive. We’re quite a small department, so we get to experience all aspects of the process, including project management, sorting costings and timings, and the technical liaison between AP Racing and the customer. Then trackside we’re talking to engineers and key figures within the race teams, ensuring they know that we’re on hand should they need us. Experience is valuable. It’s what will make you stand out against other applicants. Gaining that initial experience during my placement year is what set me up for my career.