Williams and Autosport are pleased to confirm that S from Imperial College London has been named the next Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future.Sam collected the accolade at the annual Autosport Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel, London last night where all five finalists attended the unveiling of the winner.The Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future Award is an exciting annual award, which was introduced at last year’s event, with Oxford University student Elizabeth Thompson becoming the inaugural winner.The award names one engineering student from a UK university as a rising star of Formula One engineering, and supports them with an accelerated career development programme at Williams. Following a targeted application process, through which eight of the UK’s leading universities nominated their star engineering students for consideration, five finalists were selected to take part in a two-day assessment workshop at the Williams HQ in Grove on 16th and 17th November 2016.The two-day evaluation challenged the candidates across a range of engineering tasks, testing their teamwork and approach, and the depth and breadth of their technical knowledge, to determine personality fit and leadership traits as well as pure engineering skills.The students were assessed by a panel of judges comprising leading industry, academic, media and Formula One personnel;Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer at WilliamsNicola Salter, Human Resources Director at WilliamsEdd Straw, Editor-in-Chief of AutosportTony Purnell, Former Team Principal of the Jaguar and Red Bull Formula One teams and Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of CambridgeRichard Parry-Jones CBE, previously Group Vice President of Global Product Development, Chief Technical Officer and Head of Global R&D Operations at Ford Motor Company
Sam will now join Williams on an initial two-year placement in an accelerated development programme. He will be mentored by senior engineers and rotate through various areas of Williams before finding his specialism. During the placement, Sam will also get the unique opportunity to work in the team’s race operations division and gain experience at a grand prix.Speaking about the selection process Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer at Williams, said: “At Williams, we’re really looking to the future and we’re looking to the future generation to take over and lead our engineering expertise. This award finds those leaders. All our candidates really gave us a tough time making a decision. But Sam took it a little bit further and we were very impressed with his analytical skills and academic record, and we think he is an engineer of the future. This is just the start of the process. Sam will come and join us in August and, for two years, we will put him through his paces. He will see all the different areas of the company and decide which he would like to settle in. This is part of the training for a future leader.”Stuart Williams, Publishing Director of Autosport said: "Engineering is the lifeblood of motorsport. This award gives the winner an extraordinary opportunity to begin their career with an enormous advantage. The selection process was rigorous, the calibre of entries very high and Autosport is delighted to congratulate Sam as this year's winner."
