Have you ever wondered why things behave as they do? Or wanted to pull apart a machine to see how it worked? That’s what I was like as a kid! My curiosity and interest in the workings of the world around me led me to pursue science subjects throughout school and beyond.

With my father having a doctorate in Physics I was lucky to have my fascination with science encouraged, and I quickly found a strong interest in mathematics, a language that could describe everything I could observe around me. At the end of Year 12, I decided to focus on studying Engineering at the University of Tasmania, as it lets you use mathematics to create and test ideas in real life.

I recently completed my honours project in Mechanical Engineering, and am moving on to postgraduate studies to continue my research. My honours project involved developing models to predict and optimise the behaviour of racing cars, and using these models to design, manufacture and test a suspension system on our University’s Formula SAE car. This vehicle is part of a worldwide engineering design competition that pits teams of university students against one another. The idea is for a team of students to design, manufacture and race a small single-seat racing car.

My current studies look at “active suspension” systems for vehicles, which can sense road conditions and change vehicle dynamics to suit with millisecond precision. I plan on using our Formula SAE vehicle as a platform to develop and test my research and hopefully find some new methods of vehicle control.

Having worked as a race engineer for Formula Vee, Formula 4 and now GT86 series teams, I hope to use my personal racing experience, design skills and engineering experience to make it into a race engineering position with a V8 supercar, Formula 3 or perhaps even Formula 1 team.

Find out more: www.utas.edu.au/engineering/fsae , www.utasmotorsport.com