Special feature
Formula 1
Engineering F1 success with INFINITI’s unique academy
The INFINITI Engineering Academy has provided an opportunity for many bright, young engineering talents to find their dream jobs working in Formula 1.
Edited: Apr 1, 2019, 1:44 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Behind every great engineering challenge lies human talent. The collaboration between INFINITI and Renault F1 Team has led to a series of success stories thanks to a unique automotive-to-motorsport training programme for the world’s brightest young engineers.
Now entering its sixth season the INFINITI Engineering Academy is a global search for fresh-thinkers to be recruited across both automotive and Formula 1 industries.
Over the past five years, the Academy has discovered many young, diverse engineering students from across the world who have won a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play an active role in INFINITI’s technical partnership with Renault F1 Team. Each year seven regional winners are chosen through a multi-stage recruitment process from thousands of applicants.
Each Academy winner has a personal mentor overseeing their professional career development as they progress through their 12-month placement, split between INFINITI’s Technical Centre Europe based in Cranfield and the Renault F1 Team’s headquarters at Enstone.
The six-month placement at each company allows every engineer to develop a valuable depth of specific knowledge and cultivates a two-way transfer of technology, systems, and processes across INFINITI and Renault F1 Team.
In the past five years, 50% of the Academy winners have secured full-time employment contracts with INFINITI or in Formula 1 – with more joining suit after their studies, proving the INFINITI Engineering Academy is the ultimate life-changing student engineering programme.
Here are four examples of the many Academy winners who now have full-time employment contracts at either Renault F1 Team or INFINITI…
Damien Turlay, 2017 Europe winner
Photo by: INFINITI Engineering Academy
Matthew Crossan, 2017 Canada winner
Photo by: INFINITI Engineering Academy
Alexandros Palaiologos, 2016 Mexico winner
Photo by: INFINITI Engineering Academy
Xuezi (Sally) Li, 2016 China winner
Photo by: INFINITI Engineering Academy
Matthew Crossan
2017 Canada winner
As the Canadian winner of the 2017 edition of the INFINITI Engineering Academy, Matthew Crossan has secured full-time employment with Renault F1 Team as a Simulation Development Engineer in the Vehicle Performance Group. His new position brings him one-step closer to his ambition of becoming a race engineer.
“Before the team travels to any track in the world, we simulate what setup the cars will use at that Formula 1 race. My role within the team will now be to improve and develop the simulation tools to ensure optimum performance output from the car. That simulation produces future ideas which we can later evolve.
“This is what I’ve always wanted to do and I’m only here today thanks to the success I was able to achieve in the INFINITI Engineering Academy,” says Crossan.
Damien Turlay
2017 Europe winner
Frenchman Damien Turlay, 25, triumphed in the 2017 European final of the INFINITI Engineering Academy. Turlay impressed the judges with his excellent technical knowledge.
After his studies, Turlay secured a full-time position and is now working at the Renault Sport Racing powertrain research and development facilities in Viry-Châtillon. Viry is the site that develops the 1.6-litre hybrid turbocharged Power Unit that powers the Renault F1 Team race cars.
Turlay has been involved with a group of INFINITI performance hybrid engineers in a project to co-develop and optimize the second-generation Energy Recovery System (ERS) within the Power Unit. The transferable technologies between Formula 1 and the automotive industry have also seen Turlay working on the development of the new INFINITI Project Black S road car prototype.
Xuezi (Sally) Li
2016 China winner
During her placement with Renault F1 Team, 25-year-old Chinese student Xuezi (Sally) Li was working within the aero department. At Enstone she helped the team with a new rear wing concept that was used on the R.S.17 at the end of the 2017 F1 season.
Originally from Chengdu in China and a student of automotive engineering, the success from winning the INFINITI Engineering Academy gave Li a life-changing opportunity.
“I was working on extracting performance from the Renault F1 Team rear wing,” said Li. “Who gets to do that, at my age, and from my background? The INFINITI Engineering Academy is an opportunity like no other.”
Li decided to specialize in aerodynamics and afterwards studied a PhD at Imperial College, London. She now has a position as an aerodynamics engineer at INFINITI.
Alexandros Palaiologos
2016 Mexico winner
Back in 2016, Alexandros Palaiologos was the first-ever winner of the INFINITI Engineering Academy from Mexico. After completing his year at INFINITI Technical Centre Europe and with Renault F1 Team, Palaiologos was welcomed back to the Cranfield facility in July last year.
After finishing his studies, last summer marked the beginning of the 26-year-old’s full-time career in premium-sector automotive engineering.
“It was a dream come true for me,” said Palaiologos. “To be the first Mexican winner against such tough competition was an incredible achievement and one of the most rewarding days of my life. I have always wanted to work in motorsport and the automotive industry and winning the INFINITI Engineering Academy changed my life.”
Q&A: Tommaso Volpe
Director Global Motorsport and Performance Projects, INFINITI Motor Company Ltd.
Tommaso Volpe
Photo by: INFINITI Engineering Academy
How important is it for INFINITI and the wider Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to recruit new engineering talent?
“It is absolutely key. At INFINITI, we believe that human talent is the driving force behind technology and we constantly strive to keep our talent pool revitalized. The INFINITI Engineering Academy, as a global talent search that successfully mixes multi-culturalism with academic and engineering excellence, helps us do this. It’s no accident that several of the Academy alumni work at INFINITI and Renault F1 Team after their placements.”
How relevant is Formula 1 technology to automotive engineering and vice-versa?
“Technology transfer between the automotive industry and Formula 1 is very relevant. INFINITI has been at the forefront of hybrid powertrain technology for many years and now we can see a lot of relevance with this specific technology in motorsport with the new breed of downsized, hybrid powertrains used in Formula 1. This shows the relevance of technology between the two industries and how knowledge is transferred between the two.”
What learnings do you think the winners will gain working in the automotive sector that they can take into Formula 1?
“Working for INFINITI in automotive engineering will stimulate and energize the winners for their placement in Formula 1 and vice versa. With hybrid technology at the forefront of Formula 1 and INFINITI at the cutting edge of performance hybrid technology for road cars, the engineering challenges within each industry continue to converge.”
How to apply for the 2019 INFINITI Engineering Academy
This is your opportunity to secure a once in a lifetime work placement across automotive and Formula 1 engineering. All applicants must be fluent in English, be a current engineering student and be a citizen or resident in one of the eligible countries. For more information on the INFINITI Engineering Academy, or to apply to be a part of the class of 2019, visit http://academy.infiniti.com.
INFINITI Engineering Academy
Photo by: Infiniti
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1’s iconic cars: The brutal Benetton B186 by Giorgio Piola
Next article Marko: "Rallycross" moment shows Red Bull has more to come
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Renault F1 Team
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Latest news
Did Kyle Larson win the NASCAR Cup or has Denny Hamlin lost it?
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
2 min
Did Kyle Larson win the NASCAR Cup or has Denny Hamlin lost it?
F1 Mexico GP: Lando Norris tops final practice by 0.001s from Kimi Antonelli
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
21 min
F1 Mexico GP: Lando Norris tops final practice by 0.001s from Kimi Antonelli
Brad Keselowski increased RFK ROI, free to pursue next opportunity
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
1 h
Brad Keselowski increased RFK ROI, free to pursue next opportunity
When Red Bull expects to start using its long-awaited new F1 wind tunnel
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
When Red Bull expects to start using its long-awaited new F1 wind tunnel
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe