As the competition season is now over for TAU Racing, this means that our graduates will be now leaving the team. We caught up with some of them to find out what their plans are for the future.
Joshua Barton - Head of Research and Development
How long have you been with the team and what roles have you held?
"I have been with the team for 4 years. I started in the chassis department and took on the role of Head of Chassis the following year. Afterwards I became Technical Director for TAU-20, and then formed and led the Research and Development department."
What plans have you got for the future?
"I have started a graduate position as a design engineer at Prodrive Advanced Technologies. I hope to continue my journey towards attaining chartership and want to remain at Prodrive for the foreseeable future as the projects are so diverse, deeply interesting, and engaging to me."
What is your biggest personal achievement in your time with the team?
"My biggest personal achievement within TAU was finishing the TAU-19 chassis ahead of schedule, with a lower mass and higher stiffness, at a difficult time."
What is your favourite memory you are going to take with you from your time with TAU?
"Playing football and having lunches outside in the sun during the TAU-18 build with everyone together was a massive highlight to becoming part of the team and was brilliant fun. But coming home after TAU-19 performed amazingly at FSUK and seeing a beautiful sunset really sealed in as a memory. That year was dedicated to Joe, a close friend who was a massive part of the team. There was closure for me in finishing TAU-19 and doing so well in his honour."
Aidan Belton-Schure - Technical Director
How long have you been with the team and what roles have you held?
"I have been with the team for four years and have been the Head of Suspension and the Technical Director."
What plans have you got for the future?
"I have graduated and am working for a company in Edinburgh as a software engineer for high performance computing software."
What is your biggest personal achievement in your time with the team?
"My biggest personal achievement was the design of the TAU-20 vehicle suspension."
What is your favourite memory you are going to take with you from your time with TAU?
"Going up to Grampian Kart Club during my first year at university and getting to see the car being tested for Silverstone."
Sam Downes - Head of Business
How long have you been with the team and what roles have you held?
"I joined the team in my first year as a junior member of the business team and slowly took on more responsibility to eventually become the Head of Business."
What plans have you got for the future?
"Having graduated with a degree in Business Management and Economics, I now work for a small strategic consultancy, Doqaru, in the Energy and Tech industries as their Customer Success Manager. We work with executives to grow revenue and drive sales performance through data-driven insights which is really cool!"
What is your biggest personal achievement in your time with the team?
"I don’t think there was one big achievement, rather a combination of lots of little ones. But I think this year the hardest was holding the business team together through COVID and managing to at least see our project through. There are definitely some lessons to be learnt from it and I’m sure Adam will be able to take to team to new strengths from September."
What is your favourite memory you are going to take with you from your time with TAU?
"The laughs, the jokes and general camaraderie which we had in the business team!"
Peter Eagles - Co-Head of Suspension
How long have you been with the team and what roles have you held?
"I've been in the team for 2 years, first as a Suspension team member before becoming Co-head of Suspension for the past year."
What plans have you got for the future?
"My plans for the immediate future is to complete a single year masters at Cranfield University studying Advanced motorsport engineering. Then see where things go."
What is your biggest personal achievement in your time with the team?
"Biggest personal achievement was probably just getting the 2021 car finished in some form, even if just a concept."
What is your favourite memory you are going to take with you from your time with TAU?
"Still the tau week at the start of January this year as best memory as close as we got to being a fully normal team this year and working together at the same time."
Cameron Scott - Head of Media
How long have you been with the team and what roles have you held?
"I've been in the team for 5 years, first joining as a member of the Wheels, Tyres and Steering department before leading it for two years. In the past two years I have also held the positions of Secretary and Head of Media."
What plans have you got for the future?
"Having graduated this summer from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I'm now joining JCB as a graduate engineer."
What is your biggest personal achievement in your time with the team?
"My biggest personal achievement in my time with the team was probably leading our entry for the Cost Special Task and reaching the final of the Cost and Manufacture event in 2020. It was a great reward for all the hard work put in by the team that year."
What is your favourite memory you are going to take with you from your time with TAU?
"My favourite memory has to be from my first competition at Silverstone in 2017. That was the first year we had run the Triumph Daytona engine so after working hard over the course of the year the team went into competition with a bit of uncertainty over how well we would perform. Safe to say, we exceeded even our most optimistic predictions and placed fourth overall, the team's best ever result! Given that the results were not published until late in the evening, this came as a complete surprise to all of us back at the campsite. Those celebrations are something I will never forget."
Euan Williamson - Project Manager
How long have you been with the team and what roles have you held?
"I’ve been part of TAU Racing for three years having joined at the beginning of my third year at University. Having found out a little about all the departments, I decided to commit to Composites and Aerodynamics where I learnt a lot of manufacturing skills very quickly. Fortunately, I was able to take up a leadership position for this department the following year. This past year I have had the pleasure of being the team’s Project Manager, which presented new challenges and responsibilities, yet remaining an incredibly rewarding experience."
What is your biggest personal achievement in your time with the team?
"Having been able to apply the lessons learned to a live project alongside studying has got to be one of my proudest achievements. Going from concepts through to a final manufactured part that integrates with the work of many others presents a great sense of accomplishment. There is a challenging yet encouraging and supportive atmosphere in the team and it’s been great looking back on what we have all been able to achieve."
What is your favourite memory you are going to take with you from your time with TAU?
"One of my favourite memories from my time with TAU has got to be attending the FSUK competition at Silverstone. The event has such a buzz that is hard to describe, being there with your friends watching your car go round the track is something truly unforgettable. I look forward to continuing to watch and support the team in the future and hope to get to another competition to cheer them on."