Overseas News

Coventry uni students win design and F1 internship

Coventry University student Muaaz Shah will get to work with a Formula One team during his studies after being selected for a Formula One scholarship as he pursues his dream of working in elite motorsport.

The scholarship program was launched by Formula One as part of their WeRaceAsOne campaign last year, which was aimed at addressing the societal issues facing motor racing and the world through sport. It specifically seeks to break down barriers to the industry and address the issue of under-representation in the sport. Coventry University was chosen by Formula One as part of a small, carefully selected group of universities to award the unique scholarship, and just 10 students in the UK and Italy have been given the opportunity. Now, 20-year-old Muaaz from Birmingham, an avid Formula One fan and aspiring engineer, is setting his sights on a career in one of the sporting world’s most exciting and lucrative industries as he combines his BSc degree in Motorsport Engineering alongside a work placement with a Formula One team. “With all the equipment here at Coventry University I’m spoilt for choice. We have racing simulators, state-of-the-art facilities – we practically have our own Formula One garage here. I have every confidence that this course can help me pursue my dream of working in research, development and design within the F1 industry,” he said. Another Coventry University student Hwijun Moon, a South Korean student studying Automotive and Transport Design, won the Top Honour Prize at an international car design festival, Auto Design Award. The theme of the awards was ‘meta mobility, electrified universe’ and Hwijun’s project, entitled Autobiography, incorporated virtual reality and an autonomous driving mode. The concept of Autobiography is to allow drivers to create their own stories by using virtual and augmented reality to change their travel experience. In autonomous mode, displays inside the car would allow the occupants to experience different weather conditions, tour different landscapes across the world, take part in a race or even drive through a different point in time via a time travel mode. The event saw Hwijun’s design considered by an expert panel of judges including senior figures in the global car industry.

Battery Gigafactory for the UK

In the UK the West Midlands Gigafactory joint venture has taken the next step in its journey with Warwick District Council and Coventry City Council having resolved to approve outline plans for a Gigafactory creating up to 6,000 new highly skilled jobs directly alongside thousands more in the wider supply chain in Coventry, Warwickshire and the surrounding region.

With many major automotive manufacturers based in the region, the West Midlands is the automotive skills capital of the UK and has access to current and future talent, as well as the existing skills needed to support the West Midlands Gigafactory. Production ready from 2025, the 530,000sqm facility will manufacture high-tech lithium-ion batteries for the global automotive and energy storage industries. The Gigafactory will have capacity to deliver up to 60GWh by the end of the decade. As the world rapidly moves towards an increasingly electrified future, Gigafactories have been identified as critical to the UK’s automotive and domestic energy sectors, future economic growth and achieving Net Zero targets making the West Midlands Gigafactory an imperative for the UK’s electrified future.

Briefs

EuroBrake for May

EuroBrake is the world’s largest annual gathering of braking industry professionals. Attendees include all major brake industry stakeholders, including passenger car and commercial vehicle component suppliers and manufacturers, raw material suppliers, and leading names in rail, aerospace, and academia. This year’s EuroBrake will be held online from 17 – 19 May 2022, and will feature more than 90 technical presentations, panel discussions and keynote addresses that are impacting and shaping the future of braking. SAE-A members can register with a special member code to attend EuroBrake 2022 at a discounted rate of 25% off. Contact SAE-A for the code at info@sae-a.com.au For more information about EuroBrake visit: www.fisita.com/diary/eurobrake-2022

New HQ for Gordon Murray Group

The Gordon Murray Group announced that its new global headquarters and technology campus will be the principal manufacturing site of Gordon Murray Automotive’s second car. Construction work will soon be underway on Highams Park, in Windlesham, Surrey, UK to build the state-of-the-art facility, it will include vehicle design, development, a test track, a heritage centre, and customer sales and servicing suites.

Lotus’ new design studio

From the start of 2022, the Geely design studio in Warwickshire has a new name – the Lotus Tech Creative Centre Limited (LTCC). The LTCC team continues to be led by highly experienced designer Ben Payne in the role of managing director and head of studio. LTCC is a world-class automotive design facility delivering the complete range of disciplines – design strategy, exterior and interior design, user interface and user experience design, visualisation, studio engineering, digital and physical modelling, plus colour, materials and finish. Lotus has other facilities in the UK, Germany and China.