An engineering student from London, Ontario, has been awarded the career opportunity of a lifetime as INFINITI announced Matthew Crossan as the Canadian winner of the 2017 INFINITI Engineering Academy.
Having been selected from thousands of entries and beating nine other finalists from around the country in an action-packed event at Luciani INFINITI in Montreal yesterday, the 23-year-old Crossan will move to the U.K. in October for a career opportunity of a lifetime, complete with travel, accommodation, access to an INFINITI company car, a salary and the possibility to work alongside world-leading engineers at the cutting edge of the automotive and motorsport industries.
Crossan, who is a Masters of Engineering Science student with a specialty in composite materials at Western University, will spend six months working at Renault Formula One Team's Technical Center in the U.K. (Enstone) and six months working at INFINITI's European Technical Center (Cranfield). He will play a key role in the ongoing transfer of technical knowledge and expertise between Renault Sport Formula One Team and INFINITI.
Commenting on his win, Crossan said, "When my name was announced, I couldn't believe it! I met nine other very capable and strong candidates in the Final, who were all deserving of the opportunity, so I feel very fortunate to be selected as the winner. I can't wait to get started and I will give it all to prove I am a winner worthy of this amazing opportunity."
"With every edition of the Academy, we are more and more impressed by the amount of interest received from students all over the world and the incredible level of the talent attracted. Students have seen the accomplishments of our former Academy graduates, who have forged successful careers in both automotive and motorsport and, as a result, more students than ever before want to participate to get this once-in-a-lifetime engineering experience to launch their careers", said Tommaso Volpe, Global Director, INFINITI Motorsport. "With Formula One becoming more relevant to the automotive industry and with an increased focus of the placements this year being on the road car development, we are training a new generation of engineers who will play a key role in the crossover between the two industries."
"As a premium automotive brand and technical partner to Renault Sport Formula One Team, INFINITI is committed to enhancing the ownership experience through high-performance lessons learned in motorsport," said Stephen Lester, managing director, INFINITI Canada. "Programs like the INFINITI Engineering Academy help us realize that vision, and I am honoured to participate again this year, as a judge for the second Canadian final. All of the finalists should be proud of their performance here today, and I look forward to witnessing Matthew's career develop as a result of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
The INFINITI Engineering Academy, now in its fourth year, is a one-of-a-kind global search for the world's best up-and-coming engineers. For 2017, seven placements are available with one winner chosen each from Asia-Pacific, Canada, China, Europe (incl. Russia), Mexico, United Arab Emirates and U.S., to work with INFINITI and Renault Sport Formula One Team. The 2017 edition of the Academy attracted over 12,000 registrations from 41 different countries, setting a new record with a near-threefold increase on last year.
For more information, visit the INFINITI Engineering Academy website.
