Getting students on the Inside Track

Dr David Delamore-Sutcliffe, Senior Future Concept Aerodynamicist at the Marussia F1 team

7 February 2012

Solar energy and subsea oil and gas industries are just some of the topics to be covered by Inside Track, a new seminar series launched by the Faculty of Engineering in January.

The seminars aim to bring students into contact with representatives of key industries – mainly Bristol alumni – who will share their knowledge and experiences, and offer insights on how to engage with opportunities in their field. The talks are aimed primarily at students – from many different disciplines, not just the obvious ones – but are also open to staff and members of the public.

The series kicked off with a talk in a packed Pugsley Lecture Theatre by Dr David Delamore-Sutcliffe, Senior Future Concept Aerodynamicist at the Marussia F1 team and Bristol graduate, who has also worked for Toyota Motorsport and Team Lotus. The event also saw the launch of a new Bristol PLuS award – an award scheme run by the Careers Service to help improve students’ employability skills – with a slant towards engineering activities.

Professor Nishan Canagarajah, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said: ‘Our faculty has an excellent reputation for graduate employment. I was delighted to launch this new seminar series, which builds on this success by giving students the opportunity to hear about the achievements and experiences of our graduates in some of the most important engineering industries – and then to exchange ideas with them on our new LinkedIn group.’

Dr Delamore-Sutcliffe said: ‘Coming back to the faculty was an enjoyable experience and it was great to see such an enthusiastic turn-out from the Bristol engineers. This is a great way for industry to engage in a real discussion with its future workforce, and vice versa.’

Upcoming lectures are as follows:

The Inside Track on renewable energy, Colin Palmer, co-founder of Wind Prospect Group Ltd, 9 February, 1 pm, Pugsley Lecture Theatre, Queen’s Building
The Inside Track on starting out as an entrepreneur, Lee Arromba and Dan Newton, founders of TangibleFX, 23 February, 1 pm, Pugsley Lecture Theatre, Queen’s Building
The Inside Track on the oil industry, Neil Douglas, Managing Director of Viper Subsea, 8 March, 1 pm, Pugsley Lecture Theatre, Queen’s Building

All seminars are followed by a Question and Answer session, a chance to meet the speaker over drinks and a related LinkedIn discussion on ‘University of Bristol Engineering and Industry’.

Dr Delamore-Sutcliffe’s presentation is available to view online.

For more information, please contact the Industrial Liaison Office on engf-ilo@bristol.ac.uk or 0117 954 5483.