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Formula 1 engineer puts School in pole position

Rob Smedley, Felipe Massa’s race engineer at Ferrari, gave an inspirational talk as he officially relaunched one of our academic Schools.

Previously known as the School of Science & Technology, Rob unveiled the new identity of the School of Science & Engineering after his guest lecture on 26 November. The lecture, which was given to a specially invited audience, explored Rob’s experiences as an F1 race engineer and coincided with him being awarded an honorary degree by the University for his achievements in engineering.

Rob said: ‘I was very kindly asked to come and relaunch the School of Science and Engineering and that coincided with me being offered an honorary degree for my achievements in engineering.

‘It’s one of the proudest moments in my career to be honored by my local town - the town where I was born and where I grew up.’

Rob is originally from Normanby, Middlesbrough and has built an outstanding career as an engineer in Formula 1 racing. His career started with Peugeot, then with Williams and Jordan. He moved to work for Ferrari in 2007 and was later appointed as Felipe Massa’s race engineer.

The perfect speaker Professor Simon Hodgson, Dean of the School of Science & Engineering, said: ‘When you look at the kind of things we are trying to do, it’s hard to imagine anybody who could better sum up the skills and attributes we are looking for – Rob Smedley is the perfect speaker.’

He added: ‘We have adopted the new title as the School of Science & Engineering to mark our focus on supporting the science and engineering industries of the future, and to celebrate the region’s rich engineering heritage.

'For the past two years, the School has completed a comprehensive review and redesign of every course we offer, working towards a vision of a new and distinctive style of university education. Our focus will be on producing graduates with highly developed skills in the application of academic knowledge in the real world.'

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