Case study overview
After starting his career with Lotus and having spent almost 15 years at McLaren Automotive engineering some of the world’s best high-performance Propulsion systems, Richard joined a US based electric car company.
Despite a wealth of experience and success in the automotive industry, he credits the ELS programme with inspiring him to aim high and be the best at what he does.
I’m a product of this scheme. I’ve had a great career and am privileged to be doing some world class stuff. The ELS programme was one of the enablers for that.
Sparking a deep interest
Richard was sponsored through his Master’s degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Queen’s University of Belfast by Takata Corporation which designs, develops and manufactures Automotive safety systems. During this sponsorship period, Richard spent time in Japan with the Central Japan Railway Company working on the Shinkansen bullet trains.
He describes applying for the ELS programme as being a ‘no brainer’ and planned to use the funding to help him stand out. He travelled to Detroit to attend the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress and decided to learn German through
an intensive language course in Germany, which he knew would be beneficial for a career in the automotive industry.
Learning a language
He travelled to Detroit to attend the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress and decided to learn German through an intensive language course in Germany, which he knew would be beneficial for a career in the automotive industry.
“It was really special as people were coming from all nations to immerse themselves in the German language… it really increased my language adoption,” he says. The remaining funds were used to buy technical publications and books, which he still has on his shelves.
Watt a career
Richard joined Lotus Cars’ graduate engineering programme where he discovered what he loved doing, and what he didn’t. His interest was in propulsion systems, which eventually led to a 15-year career at McLaren Automotive building and leading the powertrain team.
“It was such a privilege for me to build up a powertrain team and design, develop and launch into production some of the world’s best high-performance propulsion systems for some of the world’s best cars,” he says.
I read hundreds of resumes and have been involved in graduate schemes & interviews, but for those who want to be the stars of tomorrow, they need to have something special. They need to have something extracurricular to set them apart and that for me is the biggest reason to do this. - Richard Farquhar
An electric career
Richard is now Vice President of Propulsion for Rivian Automotive – a new electric car company developing a new line up of premium electric adventure vehicles and related products, plus a fleet of electric commercial vehicles for Amazon. “I’m leading the design and development of high voltage batteries, power electronics, electric motors, electric drive trains and thermal systems for all Rivian vehicles and charging & energy products,” he says.
Richard has over 200 engineers working across his teams. “I’m still deeply involved in technology and engineering and am energised by the challenge of continuing to be the best and aiming high. That really stems from the ELS programme all those years ago,” he says.
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