We spoke with Jon Mundy, an automotive engineer in the Product Innovation Team at Ford Motor Company. Listen to what he gets up to on a day-to-day basis and how he got into the industry.
Where to start...
Do you like the idea of creating and shaping new technologies in transport and mobility, making things better, cleaner, more efficient and maybe even faster too? Then this is the career for you! Automotive engineers work closely with:
design: either designing new products or improving existing ones
research and development: finding solutions to engineering problems
production: planning and designing new production processes
The variety of skills and tasks automotive engineers get involved are almost endless! Here are some examples to get you started:
developing new test procedures, using both conventional and innovative methods
bringing new products to market and being involved in problem-solving and project management
devising and organising tests, to answer questions from clients, consumers and other engineers involved in vehicle development
anticipating vehicle or component behaviour in different conditions with computer modelling software
analysing and intepreting technical data into reports or presentations and answering any queries about the results
building an individual specialism within a larger team and working independently
contributing to regular team meetings to update colleagues on progress, problems and new developments
managing all details of projects, including projected costs
recognising the benefits of engineering developments to related departments in order to market projects and secure internal funding
negotiating costs of development and engineering work with commercial departments
monitoring any related systems or engineering issues associated with the component and final product
supervising technical staff, engineers or designers (dependent upon specific role)
operating in cross-functional or internationally-based teams to design experiments in order to test the validity and competence of new technology.
Careers in automotive engineering technology and mechanical / automotive engineering are not mutually exclusive. Many people start in automotive engineering technology and go on to earn Masters Degrees in automotive engineering.
Take a look at the CEOs of automotive companies too, the majority of automotive CEOs come from an automotive engineering background of some kind, so an appreciation of automotive engineering is important at all levels!
Many thanks
Thanks goes to World Television and Ford Motor Company, we're incredibly grateful to them both for their collaboration with our Your Future In Automotive interview series.
No comments:
Post a Comment