Fiona Lawrence MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics

Williams F1, Junior Aerodynamicist

Within my placement, I work in race support at the weekend as one of the factory-based aerodynamicists. I have been watching F1 for as long as I can remember and getting involved in the live data behind the scenes has been a fantastic experience.

Why did you choose to come to Southampton?

Southampton has a reputation for putting engineers through F1, because the teams find the students well prepared for the type of work. In particular, I was looking forward to the race car aerodynamics module.

What have you enjoyed most about your course?

My favourite part of the course is the practical element – the group projects. I find them really enjoyable because you have a specific problem to fix in a predetermined timescale.

How are you finding your placement and what are you doing?

It’s been wonderful so far. I have 2 roles at Williams. My week job is as a software engineer for the Aero Department. This has been amazing as I’ve had the opportunity to work with many different people and build tools to help with all sorts of aspects of aerodynamic analysis. I also work in race support at the weekend as one of the factory based aerodynamicists. I have been watching F1 for as long as I can remember and getting involved in the live data behind the scenes has been a fantastic experience.

Why did you choose to do your summer placement at this company?

I have always wanted to get involved in Formula One. Williams is a great team and as motorsport is their primary interest, everyone and everything is focussed towards that.