Keira
Byrne
Aero Performance Placement Student
Formula Careers takes a look behind the scenes of Aston Martin Racing and their Industrial Placement programme and meets the inspirational students carving a path to a successful career in Formula 1.
Tell us about yourself and how your passion for F1 began
I’m Keira, I’ve just finished my third year of my four year MEng degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Southampton and have started my undergraduate placement year in Aero Performance at Aston Martin F1 Team.
I chose my degree course because I knew from about 13/14 years old I wanted to be an engineer and Southampton offered an interesting course with great facilities. My passion for F1 first began when I was small watching F1 with my dad and when I got to about 17 I became more interested and realised that I might want to work in F1.
Was the interview process for your placement as you expected it to be?
Before going through the interview process I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
How did you ensure your application stood out from the rest?
I tried to highlight relevant skills I had obtained both through other internships/work experience as well as from doing Formula Student at university.
How did you feel when you found out your application was successful?
Very excited but I also felt proud to have got to the point of being offered the placement.
What was your first day like?
Great, I got to see round parts of the factory as well as learning a lot about what Aero Performance do. It was really interesting to see what an F1 teams factory and offices are like.
Do you feel like you’ve learned a lot since you first started?
I feel like I’ve learnt loads, everyday I’m learning new things. There’s so much new stuff to learn at an F1 Team.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned since your placement began?
Ask questions, I’m learning so much by just asking questions and clarifying things with people if I don’t understand something.
Any particular extra curricular activities you’d recommend to students wanting to work in F1?
I’d recommend Formula Student because I learnt a lot through it, especially things that I didn’t learn on my course, but it’s also fun at the same time.
If you could give current students one piece of advice for their application, what would it be?
Be yourself. At the end of the day, you’re going to be a very similar level academically to most of the other candidates so the interviewers want to know if you’re the kind of person they’re going to want to work with day in day out.
What role would you like to do after finishing University?
I’m not 100% sure yet, probably something Aero Performance related.