2019 Winner's story
Josh at McLaren
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Our 2016 Next Generation Award winner’s third work experience placement was at McLaren.
A passenger lap in one of the world’s hottest new supercars was just one of the highlights of Josh de Wit’s incredible month with McLaren Automotive. During his time with the manufacturer at its Woking headquarters, Josh worked with the team behind the McLaren P1 hypercar and investigated future products, specifically how to implement hybrid drivetrains into vehicles. His efforts were focused on examining battery development and energy storage systems, and then he helped create complicated 3D simulations to test his findings.
This wasn’t the first time Josh had worked at McLaren. Back in 2012 he did a short work experience stint there in the design studio, but the exciting and futuristic Woking headquarters is almost unrecognisable to him now.
“I can really notice a big difference in such a short space of time. McLaren has come so far,” Josh says. “There are now departments which didn’t exist back then. The company has grown and developed so quickly.
“Coming back now and having passenger rides in some of McLaren’s cars shows just how far it has come. I thought the 570GT was crazy quick, but then I got in a 720S and it absolutely blew my mind.
Next month Josh will be with Nissan
Josh at Peugeot
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The second stop for University of Sussex student and 2016 Next Generation Award winner was Peugeot.
Josh spent a month gaining a deep understanding of what happens on the commercial side of the automotive business after the new cars have been produced and are ready to go to market.
“My first week was spent with the e-commerce team and a PR agency that works with Peugeot,” says Joshua. “A lot of the work I was observing was to do with Peugeot’s industry-leading online sales initiative. Being able to buy a car online is an amazing step forwards for the industry. I have no doubt it’s going to take off big time, and Peugeot is at the forefront and totally prepared for it.”
Joshua met the team behind this revolutionary online car buying service, looked at the complicated software required to build it, analysed data gathered from it and then examined how the website was presented to prospective customers. Working with the commercial team highlighted a new aspect of the automotive industry to Joshua, who has an engineering background.
However, he recognises the importance of understanding the business from all sides, and that’s the sort of valuable experience Peugeot was able to give him. “Having experience of the commercial side of the industry and thinking about the customer is crucial,” Joshua says. “With engineering you don’t necessarily always have the customer at the forefront of your thoughts, but it should never be far away and my experience with Peugeot helped me to appreciate that.”
Next month Josh will be returning to his engineering roots with an exciting project based placement at McLaren.
Josh at Jaguar Land Rover
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Joshua de Wit, 2016 Autocar Courland Next Generation Award winner, has completed his first work placement at Jaguar Land Rover
The 22-year old won last year’s award with a cutting-edge idea focusing on battery technology. He’s now at the end of his first placement with Jaguar Land Rover, and brimming with confidence after a successful month. “I wasn’t nervous before I started at JLR,” he says. “I was looking forward to it more than anything, and my objective was to come here and learn. I’ve learnt big time. Working with different teams and people, and learning different processes, has been fantastic.”
During his first week at JLR, Joshua worked in the ‘human machine interface’ department looking at software platforms, artificial intelligence, smartphone app development and how motorists interact with their vehicles. After that, he was placed in a research role in the energy storage department focusing on battery technology – an area he relished working in.
“I could fully immerse myself,” he says. “There’s a huge focus around technology in the industry and lots of efforts being made to develop it. JLR is not resting on its laurels – it’s looking far ahead in the future with its development. It’s been exciting to be a part of that.”
With a keen interest in electric cars, Joshua joined JLR at a pivotal time. The electric I-Pace crossover, Jaguar’s first fully electric vehicle, is under development and he was fortunate enough to learn more about the team behind it.
“The Jaguar I-Pace has so much potential,” he says. “I was surprised because the team behind the car is actually quite small. To make that car is a marvel – it’s inspiring.”
During a busy programme with JLR, Joshua also managed to squeeze in some time on the test track to learn the processes behind car development. He was able to observe how vehicles such as the Range Rover and Jaguar F-Pace undergo testing both on and off-road.
