Simon Bickerton: Composites, Creativity, and Connection

Most of us never think twice about the materials behind a yacht, a satellite, or even a tennis racket. But, for Simon Bickerton, those fibres and resins have defined a career that’s taken him from Delaware to Germany, and now back to Tāmaki Makaurau. We sat down with him to trace that journey - and the lessons he’s passing on to the next generation of engineers.

Most people, it feels safe to assume, rarely stop to think about the carbon fibre foils that help SailGP yachts skim across the water at highway speeds, the protective shells shielding satellites as they blast into orbit, or the carbon fibre frames of elite tennis rackets that make a world-class serve that much faster.

Simon Bickerton, however, is not “most people.” The Tamaki Makaurau-based professor and Department Head has spent the better part of the last two decades advancing research into composite materials - which, for the uninitiated, are the fibres and resins that allow engineers to create structures that are lighter, stronger, and more durable than traditional metals.

“Growing up, I was really good at maths physics and metalwork,” Simon recalls when we meet online, just days before he’s due to head to the US for a conference on the subject. “I didn’t know what professional engineering was in high school, but someone put a brochure in front of me, and it described the things I like, so that’s what I pursued.”

And thank goodness for that - because while Simon is quick to downplay his achievements, he’s gone on to become a leading figure in composite materials research - and the engineering industry at large - making his mark across both industry and academia in New Zealand and overseas.

“I’ve had some great opportunities that have gone on to shape my career,” Simon reflects warmly. “And some of them have come down to a little bit of luck meeting the right people at the right time,” he adds, recalling how a conversation at the end of his undergraduate degree with a visiting academic from the United States led to an offer to complete a funded PhD in composite materials at the University of Delaware - an opportunity that, arguably, set his entire career in motion.

A decade after completing that PhD - and with a stint of lecturing at the University of Auckland now under his beltSimon reconnected with a fellow Delaware graduate - an encounter that then opened the door to a job opportunity with BMW in Germany. There, he joined as a carbon fibre composites specialist on what remains the largest automotive project of its kind - the first attempt by a carmaker to deploy carbon fibre on an industrial scale.

“That was really cool to be part of,” Simon says proudly. “BMW was trying to stretch itself, the project was ramping up, the manufacturing process went all the way around the world, and there were about 300 of us in the department I worked in.”

The composites were used in the car’s structure, particularly the chassis, and Simon’s role was to monitor material quality - following polymer fibres as they were carbonised, woven into textiles, layered into stacks, shaped into 3D forms, moulded, and finally injected with resin under immense pressure to cure. “There were a lot of different moulds, shapes, and points where things could potentially go wrong,” he explains “My day-to-day was focused on studying the quality at each point, feeding data into the system, and helping production teams analyse the issues. And when you’re in early production, and no one in the world has done this before, there are a lot of quality issues that needed to be sorted out It was definitely exciting, but it wasn’t an easy task at all.”

Yet what Simon looks back on with most pride goes beyond keeping production on track. At the time, BMW’s testing meant taking a sample, running trials, and destroying it - a rather wasteful (and expensive!) process. By the time Simon left the role, the team - guided by his leadership and expertise - was increasingly using non-destructive testing methods that delivered the same measurements while keeping the material intact, allowing it to remain part of the car “I was proud to use my knowledge to help the business in that way.”

That lesson, he says, is one worth passing on to future engineers. “It’s always good to work to your strengths, but the real impact comes when you combine that with creativity and thinking outside the box. Having the capability to be creative is so important - it’s not to be undervalued, as it means you can find new approaches, make processes more efficient, or explore the usage of different materials.”

“And,” Simon adds, “communication is really important too - otherwise you’ll have all these great ideas and just end up sitting in an office by yourself not doing anything with them. Engineering is a team game.”

These days, Simon is back in New Zealand, relishing the challenges of leading the University of Auckland’s Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering Department. And as he reflects on what’s clearly been a rich and rewarding career, it’s the teams he’s been part of, and the people he’s guided, that mean the most. “To me, that’s the biggest legacy,” he says. “My students have gone on to do amazing things - some are building rockets, others designing yachts And while I can make an impact in my field or invent a new manufacturing process, what’s most satisfying, when I boil it down, is seeing those I’ve taught go out into the world and succeed.”

And if this conversation - and the sense of possibility it no doubt leaves us all with - is anything to go by, it’s clear Simon is shaping a legacy far larger than his own career.

Simon's advice for students interested in STEM careers:

“Connections are so important. Even for young students, I recommend paying attention to your network, and keeping connected to people, because within that network, you create opportunities."