Abu Dhabi — Infiniti Motor Company Limited opened applications for the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy, offering an exclusive opportunity to secure a year work placement with four-time Formula One World Champions Infiniti Red Bull Racing.
The opening for entries was announced by Infiniti EMEA Vice President Fintan Knight, Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber and the team’s Head of Car Engineering Paul Monaghan during a special event at the Infiniti showroom in Dubai, just ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“Formula One sits at the pinnacle of global motorsport with the best drivers, the best teams, cutting edge technology and the cream of the crop of engineers from around the world,” said Knight.
“Just as Formula One is fiercely competitive on-track, so it is off-track when it comes to engineering careers. We’ve created the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy because we want to encourage and nurture the best new engineering talent,” he added.
Andreas Sigl, Global Director of Infiniti F1, said: “The Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy is unique and a golden opportunity for top engineering talents from around the world to further their learning in the fast-paced environment of Formula One. Collaboration across People, Process and Technology is a crucial element of our partnership with Infiniti Red Bull Racing, and through this initiative we’re able to offer engineers of the future not only a potential route in to Formula One, but immersion in the crossover to Infiniti performance road cars like the new Q50 that we’ve developed with input from Sebastian Vettel.”
Infiniti Middle East also announced today its partnership of the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy, with five leading universities in the region. Fifty budding engineering students from these universities attended the event and made the most of the opportunity to ask Mark Webber and Paul Monaghan about working in Formula One and what it takes to succeed at the top.
“Engineering is so crucial to performance with today’s Formula One cars so we’re always looking to attract and nurture new talent to become the leading engineers of tomorrow,” said Monaghan. “Having the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy supporting us in this continual search will help us ensure we benefit from some of the world’s best budding new engineers, whilst giving a fantastic opportunity and potential career boost to those wanting to make it in Formula One.”
“Helping new racing talent develop is not new to Formula One with the various young driver schemes in place, such as Red Bull’s, but there’s been less focus on nurturing engineers,” said Webber. “For any engineer aiming for Formula One, I’m sure Infiniti’s support is a big boost. It’s a good chance to be able to work with a four-time World Championship-winning team.”
The global talent search for performance-driven engineering students is open to all students at pre-selected partner universities and colleges who have the ambition and talent to work in Formula One. Applicants must be entering their final year of education or graduating in 2014, be fluent in English language, and be available to work in the UK for a continuous period of twelve months from September 2014.
Applications for the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy can be made now at www.infiniti-gp.com/engineering, answering the challenge: What future technology should Formula One be incorporating to keep road-relevant? Full details of eligibility criteria and terms and conditions are available on the site.
Two winning candidates will be selected from partner universities and colleges worldwide to complete a 12-month assignment with the quadruple World Championship-winning Formula One team in Milton Keynes, UK. They will work alongside Infiniti engineers already based at the F1 team’s factory. In addition, they will also spend time at Infiniti’s nearby Technical Center in Cranfield, UK, where they will be able to deepen their knowledge of future road car technologies, and contribute to Infiniti’s technical collaboration with the team.
