Following the success of the inaugural Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future award, Williams is pleased to continue working with AUTOSPORT to begin the search for this year’s winner.
The Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future award is given to an engineering student who is a rising star of Formula One engineering. Elizabeth Thompson from the University of Oxford was named the inaugural winner last December, and will be joining Williams this summer.
A joint Williams and Autosport judging panel will select five finalists, from a list of nominees provided by eight of the country’s leading universities with strong track records in engineering; Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Loughborough, Bath, Southampton, Oxford Brookes and Queens University, Belfast.
This year it is a pleasure to welcome Richard Parry-Jones CBE to the esteemed judging panel which now reads as:
– Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer at Williams
– Nicola Salter, HR Director at Williams
– Edd Straw, Editor of Autosport magazine
– Tony Purnell, Former Team Principal of the Jaguar and Red Bull Formula One teams and Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge
– Richard Parry-Jones CBE, previously Group Vice President of Global Product Development, Chief Technical Officer and Head of Global R&D Operations at Ford Motor Company
Nominees will be whittled down to five finalists based on their previous academic track record and a proven passion for motorsport, combined with a written essay question. The winner will be chosen following a series of assessment workshops at the Williams factory in Oxfordshire, which will see our five finalists complete a number of tasks designed to test their engineering know-how, team work, problem solving skills and personality fit.
The eventual winner will be offered an initial two-year placement upon graduation in an accelerated development programme that will see them mentored by senior engineers and rotate through various areas of the team before they find their specialism. During the placement they will also get the unique opportunity to work in the team’s race operations division and gain experience at a Grand Prix.
Speaking about the initiative Stuart Williams, Group Publisher of Autosport said; “The drivers may draw much of the glory but it is the engineers who are the life blood of motor racing. From their imagination and ingenuity comes the technology which drives the fastest sport in the world. Autosport is delighted to be working with Williams again to find, support and develop the next generation of Formula One engineers.”
Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal of Williams, added; “I am delighted that we are launching our Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future award for a second year. The calibre of students we met during the 2015 assessment process was outstanding. I am confident that this year the candidates will be equally as talented, and impress our panel of judges from across the Formula One, media and motoring industries at every stage of the competition. I’m looking forward to seeing the potential and who the front-runners will be.”
The deadline for the universities involved to nominate their candidates for the award is Friday 3 May 2016, with students then having to submit their applications by Monday 22 August 2016. The winner will be announced at this year’s Autosport Awards in London on Sunday 4 December.
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