Coachlines - October 2023
30.10.23 Assistant Giles Taylor
Automotive and Motorsports Future Technologies Award winners
Since 2021, the Automotive Sub-Committee led by Court Assistant Giles Taylor has developed strong relations with the Cranfield University Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre (AVEC), headed by Professor James Brighton. All AVEC courses are at Master’s degree level and run for one year. Many students who pass through the AVEC have reached high positions in both the automotive and motorsports sectors and the Coachmakers is keen to ensure that engineering students, in addition to historic restoration and vehicle design, receive a good proportion of our yearly funding.
Last year, a team of five students from the Cranfield AVEC used the Coachmakers’ award to design and construct an e-kart which has since proved to be a valuable test-bed for various research technologies including electric hub motor torque vectoring and AI.
This year, Assistant Giles Taylor and Liveryman Nick Lyford are delighted to award two outstanding students with the means to further their education at Cranfield University in their chosen fields. They started their courses this month and you can read more about them below. They will attend the Automotive Dinner in March 2024 to receive their certificates from the Master Coachmaker.
Jade Flack – MSc Automotive Engineering
Jade (pictured above) previously studied for a BEng in Aeronautical Engineering at De Montfort University where she obtained a first class degree. She has always been interested in cars, specifically motorsport but chose aeronautical over mechanical engineering as her first degree because of its connections with aerodynamics and high speeds. She has chosen the Msc in Automotive Engineering at Cranfield as her ambition is to bring her learning together as an aerodynamicist in the motorsports sector or similar high speed automotive vehicles.
Tom Webster – MSc Advanced Motorsport Mechatronics
Tom previously studied an integrated Master’s degree (MPhys) in Physics and Astrophysics, achieving a first class from the University of Sussex. After graduating in 2021, he joined the graduate scheme at the UK Atomic Energy Authority where he worked on fusion experiment control software, material mechanics testing, scientific outreach and communication, and most recently systems engineering for the UK prototype fusion power plant. Upon joining the MSc in Advanced Motorsport Mechatronics at Cranfield University, he has been retained as Systems Engineer at UKAEA on a part-time basis, although his firm ambition is to join a Formula 1 team and develop a career as a race strategist.