Motorsport Engineering courses
Discussion
I'm nosing around at a potential career change as I'm not getting any joy out of my chosen career path and I'm beginning to understand the maxim 'if you enjoy what you do you will do well at it'. So whilst I'm still young (25) I've had a look around and see there are quite a lot of options out there now with motorsport engineering.
Which routes would people (who have experience in this area) recommend? I already have a degree (architectural technology) but I imagine any degree level courses would require me to take a foundation year first meaning 4 years of study full time. Or are there more practical routes in, maybe doing a diploma in motorsport engineering then trying to get into some form of apprenticeship?
I looked into learning Catia but found that unless I could back it up with some form of engineering training I would have no chance getting in the door of a team let alone been given the opportunity to learn. I also would prefer a slightly more practical role in the industry rather than simply designing parts on a PC.
Being based just outside of Oxford and searching so far has shown me OCVC and Brookes courses. I am also not far from quite a few teams.
I nearly went this route instead of A levels when I was younger but was warned off the motorsport course at the time as the future of the course wasn’t all that clear and I decided I had higher earning potential going the academic route. I also know that if I end up following this route I will likely end up earning nearly nothing in the next 5 years which is why it's quite a decision to make.
Which routes would people (who have experience in this area) recommend? I already have a degree (architectural technology) but I imagine any degree level courses would require me to take a foundation year first meaning 4 years of study full time. Or are there more practical routes in, maybe doing a diploma in motorsport engineering then trying to get into some form of apprenticeship?
I looked into learning Catia but found that unless I could back it up with some form of engineering training I would have no chance getting in the door of a team let alone been given the opportunity to learn. I also would prefer a slightly more practical role in the industry rather than simply designing parts on a PC.
Being based just outside of Oxford and searching so far has shown me OCVC and Brookes courses. I am also not far from quite a few teams.
I nearly went this route instead of A levels when I was younger but was warned off the motorsport course at the time as the future of the course wasn’t all that clear and I decided I had higher earning potential going the academic route. I also know that if I end up following this route I will likely end up earning nearly nothing in the next 5 years which is why it's quite a decision to make.
I’d advise looking deeper into the entry requirements of the courses, if you don’t get any joy or better info there, email the Admissions dept of the course provider and they should give you all the info you need.
I’d imagine doing them at Uni level will more than likely require relevant NVQ’s at college as the courses have struck me as being high knowledge necessary, of the workings of a car and its bits.
Good luck on this though, I looked at the whole change of career into motorsport engineering, mainly the mechanics side of it rather than design and RND, but couldn’t commit to it as I’d just bought a hose with the mrs, and she was between jobs leaving me as the sole earner. Still regret it, I probably could go for it, but the 5 or so years of study I’d need before being able to earn a decent wage still puts it off somewhat.
I’d imagine doing them at Uni level will more than likely require relevant NVQ’s at college as the courses have struck me as being high knowledge necessary, of the workings of a car and its bits.
Good luck on this though, I looked at the whole change of career into motorsport engineering, mainly the mechanics side of it rather than design and RND, but couldn’t commit to it as I’d just bought a hose with the mrs, and she was between jobs leaving me as the sole earner. Still regret it, I probably could go for it, but the 5 or so years of study I’d need before being able to earn a decent wage still puts it off somewhat.
As an ex-OCVC student I wouldn't waste my time on that.
You seem to be talking about F1 engineering. F1 teams want relevant degrees and experience. So unless you want to go back to uni at £9K a year, I wouldn't bother.
If you want to be mechanicing, get involved at the bottom and work your way up.
Good luck to you, but you need to decide what career path exactly you want to take. You need to narrow down your options at this point. Want aero, get an aeronautics degree. Want structure/mechanical, get a mechanical engineering degree.
The OCVC course is for a BTEC that you can extend to a foundation. For general engineering principals it is good, but if you already have them, you need to be aiming higher. If you don't want to retrain, keep motorsport as a hobby.
You seem to be talking about F1 engineering. F1 teams want relevant degrees and experience. So unless you want to go back to uni at £9K a year, I wouldn't bother.
If you want to be mechanicing, get involved at the bottom and work your way up.
Good luck to you, but you need to decide what career path exactly you want to take. You need to narrow down your options at this point. Want aero, get an aeronautics degree. Want structure/mechanical, get a mechanical engineering degree.
The OCVC course is for a BTEC that you can extend to a foundation. For general engineering principals it is good, but if you already have them, you need to be aiming higher. If you don't want to retrain, keep motorsport as a hobby.
It all depends what you want to do.
I started of taking afternoon out a week for a year followed by 1 day a week during high school and studied motor vehicle mechanics at a local college.
Upon completing my GCSEs I did 3 years at the same college and did my level 1 and 2 motor vehicle and a basic Motorsport course because it was offered.
Last year I started studying Motorsport mechanics and engineering at the National College for Motorsport at silverstone. Then one day a team phoned up after an extra hand running radicals at brands for a day.
I've now been working full time for the team for 7 months, helping runnning radicals and (until recently) a Ford GT GT3 all over Europe. And I'm still only 19
Yes I've got a lot to learn and Im still pretty much at the bottom. But god I love it.
I started of taking afternoon out a week for a year followed by 1 day a week during high school and studied motor vehicle mechanics at a local college.
Upon completing my GCSEs I did 3 years at the same college and did my level 1 and 2 motor vehicle and a basic Motorsport course because it was offered.
Last year I started studying Motorsport mechanics and engineering at the National College for Motorsport at silverstone. Then one day a team phoned up after an extra hand running radicals at brands for a day.
I've now been working full time for the team for 7 months, helping runnning radicals and (until recently) a Ford GT GT3 all over Europe. And I'm still only 19
Yes I've got a lot to learn and Im still pretty much at the bottom. But god I love it.
Edited by XG332 on Monday 21st November 20:44
To get an engineering role within motorsport you either need a degree or a bloody good reason why you don't have one. Motorsport is heavily oversubscribed and very few employers are likely to take someone with no experience unless you have strong academic background.
To be honest, learning how to use Catia won't get you very far, Catia is a modelling program, but it won't do any design calcs for you, most of automotive design work is done in excel and the easy bit is translating the calculations into models. You'll need a strong appreciation of materials, material properties, manufacturing processes, mechanics (as in kinematics/statics), and it helps to be bloody good at maths.
I don't want to put a downer on it, but you'll struggle to be in work by 30 if you go down the degree route, you'll be £30k minimum in debt from uni and you'll be competing with 21 year olds for entry level jobs.
To be honest, learning how to use Catia won't get you very far, Catia is a modelling program, but it won't do any design calcs for you, most of automotive design work is done in excel and the easy bit is translating the calculations into models. You'll need a strong appreciation of materials, material properties, manufacturing processes, mechanics (as in kinematics/statics), and it helps to be bloody good at maths.
I don't want to put a downer on it, but you'll struggle to be in work by 30 if you go down the degree route, you'll be £30k minimum in debt from uni and you'll be competing with 21 year olds for entry level jobs.
Edited by Nick3point2 on Monday 21st November 22:15
My old uni dd run a MSc in Motorsport Engineering. The materials technology lecturer worked for McLaren back in the 80s with the team developing carbon composites. He is now retired but I often see him to catch up as he is still a freelance consultant for McLaren.
We had a number of visits to the McLaren road car factory in Sheerwater in the late 1990s
I wanted to go into F1 and concentrated my efforts on computational fluid dynamic simulations and aerodynamics, but any job in Motorsport in Aero design required PhDs so that was the end of that career dream. It is very competitive to get into and be prepared for a long wait. It will take a long time to get in and a lot of hardwork and recognition.
We had a number of visits to the McLaren road car factory in Sheerwater in the late 1990s
I wanted to go into F1 and concentrated my efforts on computational fluid dynamic simulations and aerodynamics, but any job in Motorsport in Aero design required PhDs so that was the end of that career dream. It is very competitive to get into and be prepared for a long wait. It will take a long time to get in and a lot of hardwork and recognition.
Talk to Cranfield University about their MSc in Motorsport Engineering. It is the best place to do it, many, many top engineers in Motorsport and the Automotive industry have come from Cranfield and it's a great thing to have on your CV if you want to go into the industry.
I went into Automotive Product Eng (Road Car equivalent) at Cranfield with a Computer Science degree, so as long as you've got a maths, science or engineering led degree behind you (which you have) then you're in with a shout.
Also the courses are subsidised by the industry (at least they were when I was doing it) so they're not full whack tuition fees.
ETA - Also it's generally a great thing to do as a Petrol head. It's basically a two year course crammed into one year, and I worked harder than I've ever worked before but still enjoyed it. I also learnt more in that one year than I did in the 4 years I spent in my BSc.
I went into Automotive Product Eng (Road Car equivalent) at Cranfield with a Computer Science degree, so as long as you've got a maths, science or engineering led degree behind you (which you have) then you're in with a shout.
Also the courses are subsidised by the industry (at least they were when I was doing it) so they're not full whack tuition fees.
ETA - Also it's generally a great thing to do as a Petrol head. It's basically a two year course crammed into one year, and I worked harder than I've ever worked before but still enjoyed it. I also learnt more in that one year than I did in the 4 years I spent in my BSc.
Edited by The Wookie on Tuesday 22 November 09:49
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