Why did you choose to apply for the Xtrac undergraduate scheme?
I did an industrial placement year as a Trainee Design Engineer and then returned as a Graduate Design Engineer in 2014. I applied due to the range of customers we are involved with and the vast amount of on-site manufacturing. The ability to design something one day and see it being machined, built, and tested the next is impressive.
What is your career path since you started the scheme?
Returning as a Graduate Design Engineer I worked in the sportscar department and then moved into motorsport as a Design Engineer. I also completed a secondment in our Indianapolis facility for three months, which was a great experience working on sportscar and off-road and also introduced to track support. When I returned to the UK, I joined the Advanced Engineering team as an R&D Engineer, looking after a range of product with customer support for Le Mans GT, Dakar Rally and Australian V8 Supercars. More recently I have become a Principal R&D Engineer, looking after one of our HPA projects and all engineering activities within the department.
What is the most rewarding part of your current role?
The ability to be part of a team working on new technologies, starting at the concept stage, and working all the way through to isolated and full transmission testing and development. Supporting our customers at testing and race weekends is a daunting experience at times but a very rewarding one when you can problem solve and help a team improve their package during a weekend.
How has the graduate scheme helped you to develop?
The scheme has helped me gain huge amounts of knowledge from all areas of the business. Completing different roles through the initial two years allowed me to understand what information other departments require to enable them to work efficiently. The ability to see components being manufactured first hand was vital to me, speaking with the machinist to understanding how certain features and designs could save large amounts of time were significant to me growing as an engineer.
