Calgary Student Wins Infiniti Engineering Academy
Photo: Infiniti
Most car fans only dream of getting to work with a Formula 1 team. This summer, the Infiniti Engineering Academy went out to find the best engineers from around the world to support Infiniti’s F1 team and its luxury car design department in England. Matthew Kemp, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Calgary, took on the challenge and walked away with a year of experience invaluable to his career: Six months at the Renault F1 Team Technical Center and an additional six months at the Infiniti European Technical Center.
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To earn his new job placement, Kemp competed against other Canadian applicants. In total, there are seven regions of the Infiniti Engineering Academy, with each winner getting a spot in the coveted U.K. program. He had to take an engineering test, complete an interview, compete with a team on a decision-making challenge (designed by a professor at Harvard), participate in an F1 technical challenge, design a dragster, and then pass a press conference with real journalists. After all of that hard work, Infiniti’s panel of judges representing Nissan, other members of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, Harvard University, and the Renault F1 team, sorted through the finalists and declared Kemp the winner.
In total, seven Academy Engineers from different parts of the world will travel to the U.K. in January for this program. About half of past winners are chosen to become full-time Infiniti or F1 employees after their placement.
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“I feel incredible; I have learned so much about myself and what it takes to work in motorsport. Going through all the challenges and finishing on top is amazing,” Matthew Kemp said. “Being the youngest, I felt like the underdog, but it has been an honor to compete alongside the nine other finalists. I am very thankful for this opportunity provided by Infiniti and the Renault F1 Team, and looking forward to starting my placement in the U.K.”
We wish Matthew the best of luck next year. We know he’ll make Canada proud.
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