Best route to move into motorsport engineering?

[TheRingDing]

For context, I am 28 years old, I have wanted to work in motorsports my whole life and for the last 9 years have worked as an aircraft mechanic and more recently as a robotics technician for Amazon. I have a level 3 NVQ in Aeronautical Engineering and am currently working towards an HNC in Mechanical Engineering.

Amazon have a scheme where they will fund a degree, and with my HNC (due to complete in a couple of months), I will only have to take years 2/3 of a Bachelors degree. De Montfort in association with the National Motorsport Academy have a distance degree in Motorsport Engineering, and Open University have their Bachelor/Master of Engineering. Which should I do to get the best shot at working as an engineer in motorsport?

[bucksmanuk]

Try not to specialise, with a motorsports degree, you may be “stuck” with motorsports

Open University engineering leaves you with a whole multitude of disciplines as possibilities. Check that the OU degree is recognised by the institutions..

If working in motorsports is what you want to do – then go for it

Leaving robotics and going into motorsports seems the wrong way round to me though…

[Evanivitch]

Have you tried applying for an engineering job in Motorsport? You might find your best way in is as a junior engineer, or you may qualify for a graduate position.

I don't agree with the above that Motorsport would put you in a hole, I know several Motorsport grads and they easily find work across drivetrain and suspension work for light, heavy and specialist vehicles. With your robotics background you'd no doubt have some useful skills.

[super7]

TheRingDing said:

For context, I am 28 years old, I have wanted to work in motorsports my whole life and for the last 9 years have worked as an aircraft mechanic and more recently as a robotics technician for Amazon. I have a level 3 NVQ in Aeronautical Engineering and am currently working towards an HNC in Mechanical Engineering.

Amazon have a scheme where they will fund a degree, and with my HNC (due to complete in a couple of months), I will only have to take years 2/3 of a Bachelors degree. De Montfort in association with the National Motorsport Academy have a distance degree in Motorsport Engineering, and Open University have their Bachelor/Master of Engineering. Which should I do to get the best shot at working as an engineer in motorsport?

What area of Motorsports???

You could try getting some Weekend Warrior work as a volunteer to get experience??

[TheRingDing]

bucksmanuk said:

Try not to specialise, with a motorsports degree, you may be “stuck” with motorsports

Open University engineering leaves you with a whole multitude of disciplines as possibilities. Check that the OU degree is recognised by the institutions..

If working in motorsports is what you want to do – then go for it

Leaving robotics and going into motorsports seems the wrong way round to me though…

This is partly my thoughts too. I don’t want to box myself in! However, motorsports is my passion and I’d rather the specialised degree to give myself a better shot at getting a job!

[TheRingDing]

Evanivitch said:

Have you tried applying for an engineering job in Motorsport? You might find your best way in is as a junior engineer, or you may qualify for a graduate position.

I don't agree with the above that Motorsport would put you in a hole, I know several Motorsport grads and they easily find work across drivetrain and suspension work for light, heavy and specialist vehicles. With your robotics background you'd no doubt have some useful skills.

I’ve looked all over the place but they always require a degree.

[TheRingDing]

super7 said:

What area of Motorsports???

You could try getting some Weekend Warrior work as a volunteer to get experience??

Ultimately I would love to be involved in F1/F2, WEC, GT racing etc…

Yeah that’s not a bad idea if I can find a local team or driver to help out with!

[Nexus Icon]

TheRingDing said:

For context, I am 28 years old, I have wanted to work in motorsports my whole life and for the last 9 years have worked as an aircraft mechanic and more recently as a robotics technician for Amazon. I have a level 3 NVQ in Aeronautical Engineering and am currently working towards an HNC in Mechanical Engineering.

Amazon have a scheme where they will fund a degree, and with my HNC (due to complete in a couple of months), I will only have to take years 2/3 of a Bachelors degree. De Montfort in association with the National Motorsport Academy have a distance degree in Motorsport Engineering, and Open University have their Bachelor/Master of Engineering. Which should I do to get the best shot at working as an engineer in motorsport?

I got into F1 with a BEng in Mechanical Design, though I'm not an F1 designer, however I didn't route straight into F1 from university. I did a couple of years designing industrial HVAC units, then some very high speed machining and finally focussed on additive manufacturing for a couple of years. When I entered F1 the use "3d Printing" was still reasonably novel in the sport so although having a degree was necessary to apply, the focus of my work experience was actually more valuable as there weren't hundreds of applicants with that to choose from.

[TheRingDing]

Nexus Icon said:

I got into F1 with a BEng in Mechanical Design, though I'm not an F1 designer, however I didn't route straight into F1 from university. I did a couple of years designing industrial HVAC units, then some very high speed machining and finally focussed on additive manufacturing for a couple of years. When I entered F1 the use "3d Printing" was still reasonably novel in the sport so although having a degree was necessary to apply, the focus of my work experience was actually more valuable as there weren't hundreds of applicants with that to choose from.

So what would you recommend between the BSc Motorsport Engineering from De Montfort or the Bachelor of Engineering from the Open University. Are they both going to be similar when applying to engineering jobs?

[Nexus Icon]

TheRingDing said:

So what would you recommend between the BSc Motorsport Engineering from De Montfort or the Bachelor of Engineering from the Open University. Are they both going to be similar when applying to engineering jobs?

You're spot on with your last sentence. The degree (either) will get you the interview and your experience will get you the job. The caveat is that if you want to get into pure CAD work then 3 years of doing it as a degree and learning the systems will be as advantageous as having practical experience. If you'd rather do something more hands on, or more conceptual, than just draw out other people's designs to make 3D models then actual experience is key.

Half the time it's who you know though, and sometimes that's just to find out the vacancy exists in the first place. Not to be given a job - that's not what I mean at all - it's just hard to randomly trip over the job advert on the internet.

Edited by Nexus Icon on Tuesday 19th July 13:54

[trixical]

Check the mandatory & optional modules with the OU & get right into their syllabus nitty gritty.
I was trying to go down that route a while back & wanted to be more on the mechanical eng side due to my job at the time and interests but found the whole OU eng degree to be quite structural orientated, its probably chopped and changed a bit since I did it but still do check carefully. I also found the course texts severely lacking.
An ex colleague shortly after was looking at the same route but heeded my info and did a mechanical engineering degree via distance part time learning with Bradford or Derby uni instead.

If you do go down the NMA route do contact racers & set up crews at the club level such as CSCC for the work experience portion, my friend I crewed for was studying the NMA degree and actively took on other students on the course to work on our race cars for both pre race prep and at race weekends & I think they all got a lot of understanding, practical experience and knowledge from it (& jobs with contacts made in the paddocks in several cases), others had tales of woe as they went to big names and only got to make tea or scrub wheels.

[phumy]

bucksmanuk said:

Try not to specialise, with a motorsports degree, you may be “stuck” with motorsports

Open University engineering leaves you with a whole multitude of disciplines as possibilities. Check that the OU degree is recognised by the institutions..

If working in motorsports is what you want to do – then go for it

Leaving robotics and going into motorsports seems the wrong way round to me though…

My son was hell bent on getting into F1 at a very young age, did his A levels and also working his way up the motorsport "ladder" with weekend jobs with small race teams then with BTCC, went to college got an HND in motosport engineering. He then applied for jobs with lots of F1 teams and got a job with Honda in their factory making up sub-assemblies for around a year, having made it very clear to his boss that he wanted to be on the race team, he was put on the waiting list and as soon as a vacancy became avaialable he was out with the Honda team. That was the year the they left F1 so got a massive redundancy package on the Friday and got a job with Willaims (race team) on the Monday, stayed with them a few years then moved to Force India as race team Gearbox Tech, then decided after 4 years that he had enough on the race circus and went to work in the Merc engine/composites factory in Northampton as a contractor for two years, then decided enough was enough and wanted to settle down with his family and finally cut all ties with F1.

He then got a job with Dyson building their "new" electric car, then that fell flat, he then got offered to stay with Dyson in the Ops/R&D/Quality department where he brought over many skills and ideas from F1 to streamline their operations. He got fed up with the long commute every day and stuck in holiday traffic on the M5 during the Summer months and has now joined GKN in the aerospace industry. He has done very well for himself and as for having that Motorsport qualification, many engineering companies are very happy to see that he has come from F1 as they realise it is highly specialised and have very highly motivated personnel amongst them.

So if you specialise in Motorsport its not always a bad thing.

[SturdyHSV]

What actual job would you want to be doing in motorsport? Mechanic?

If you wanted to be an F1 mechanic say (as in on the race team?), you'd likely be starting in a pretty junior role, part of the assembly group perhaps, something factory based I'd imagine anyway, and you'd work your way up.

Your aircraft mechanic experience would comfortably demonstrate skill level I'd imagine, have you actually tried applying to some jobs? Could you afford to start on a more junior role? Whereabouts are you based?

F1 teams are manufacturing businesses, so you have a lot of ways in beyond just spannering, it wouldn't surprise me if the robotics skills would be beneficial either within R&D or vehicle testing for example, at which point you're in the door...

Feel free to PM me if you have questions and I don't reply here, I work at Red Bull so may be able to offer some insight but I don't venture into this subforum often

[Raymond Reddington]

Whatever you do, try to avoid car build or composites. Its quite easy to get in to, but very bad for work/life balance in motorsport. You may be okay with working a lot, but if you have a family or intend on starting one, it can put a strain on things.

Design is better than hands on or assembly/race team stuff in this regard but still quite demanding.

The "build" period is over, yet I'm still working loads of overtime for ugraded bodywork and aero even now and it's nearly August! Everything is very last minute as is the nature of F1.

Just something to consider as it can seem very appealing until you are required to give up a fair amount of your free time. Most of my colleagues put up with this so that they can swan around tescos in their uniform and post pictures on Facebook of them kneeling infront of the car, meanwhile their third marriage is failing and children resent them because they're working yet another weekend to get the car to the track in time.

I'm grateful that my trade has looked after me over the years and it's well paid considering my lack of qualifications, but I would probably look to get in to aerospace or defence long term as they tend to establish programs of work that last years, everything is less urgent.

Edited by Raymond Reddington on Friday 22 July 21:40

[161BMW]

Personally i would nail down the roles that interest you then use that to guide whether you need a degree or not.

If it is mechanic or technician then i think you have alot of the skills needed already. Getting some work experience by applying direct for jobs or weekend warrior work would help.

If it is to be an engineer then the Motorsport Engineering route looks good.
Personally i would check NMA or OU whether they are accredited by the IMechE (Institution of Mechanical Engineers) as that would mean you can apply for alot of mechanical engineering jobs in motorsport, automotive, aerospace etc as well which helps to keep you versatile and employable.

I would also look at any other Motorsport Engineering or Automotive Engineering or Mechanical Engineering course and see if there are part time options. Oxford Brookes, Loughborough, Cranfield, University of Hertfordshire, Brunel etc are all good but they tend to be full time but might have some part time options.

Edited by 161BMW on Saturday 13th August 17:13

[marine boy]

phumy said:

My son was hell bent on getting into F1 at a very young age, did his A levels and also working his way up the motorsport "ladder" with weekend jobs with small race teams then with BTCC, went to college got an HND in motosport engineering. He then applied for jobs with lots of F1 teams and got a job with Honda in their factory making up sub-assemblies for around a year, having made it very clear to his boss that he wanted to be on the race team, he was put on the waiting list and as soon as a vacancy became avaialable he was out with the Honda team. That was the year the they left F1 so got a massive redundancy package on the Friday and got a job with Willaims (race team) on the Monday, stayed with them a few years then moved to Force India as race team Gearbox Tech, then decided after 4 years that he had enough on the race circus and went to work in the Merc engine/composites factory in Northampton as a contractor for two years, then decided enough was enough and wanted to settle down with his family and finally cut all ties with F1.

He then got a job with Dyson building their "new" electric car, then that fell flat, he then got offered to stay with Dyson in the Ops/R&D/Quality department where he brought over many skills and ideas from F1 to streamline their operations. He got fed up with the long commute every day and stuck in holiday traffic on the M5 during the Summer months and has now joined GKN in the aerospace industry. He has done very well for himself and as for having that Motorsport qualification, many engineering companies are very happy to see that he has come from F1 as they realise it is highly specialised and have very highly motivated personnel amongst them.

So if you specialise in Motorsport its not always a bad thing.

Sounds like your son has done very well for himself, well done to him

I'd 2nd specialising in Motorsport isn't a bad thing, I've enjoyed doing exactly this for the last 30yrs with 23yrs in F1, I've had many various design roles working on Indy, Indy Lights, GT1, F1, land speed record, F3 and Formula E cars. Have no intention of stopping anytime soon

There are numerous different roles with many different routes ie academic/practical bias to get to those positions, I'd agree with others and think you already have enough experience in relevant transferable areas to consider apply for jobs

Don't wait for openings to be advertised, just write directly to HR departments, senior engineers, design department heads, technical directors, chief designers, R and D/test lab/car assembly department heads etc All these people are easily found with a few searches on LinkedIn

[LukeBrown66]

Personally right now I would not go anywhere near F1 or motorsport, I know why people do, but you will earn considerably more working in aerospace or automotive without the excessive demands on your time and ability.

Motorsport is considered more of a vocation than a job and you will be treated as such, you will be rewarded and it will obviously be satisfying, but I would rather be satisfied knowing I have made something that can save lives, clean emissions than making sure some petulant little rich kid is able to win races, but there you go.

Plus you have to think long term motorsport probably has it's cause severely marked.

[marked1]

F1 looks great on a CV but they want their pound of flesh. As others have said be prepared to give up alot of free time. Tough if you have a family but as a single person it can give you a leg up in your career. Working a job as a laminator is pretty much factory work when stripped back. Great banter with the lads though I mush admit.

Working at somewhere like RR / ITP / BAE etc also looks good on a CV and you a protected by the union somewhat.

[InformationSuperHighway]

As a single guy I'd have loved the race team lifestyle and kudos that came with it. What a life experience!

Ignore those saying it's a dead-end or get paid more elsewhere, follow you passion.