Racing Mentor founder invited to judge Formula student 2021
We are pleased to announce that Racing Mentor Founder Jess Shanahan has joined the judging panel for this year’s Formula Student event, the leading educational competition for degree-level automotive engineering students worldwide. This gives Racing Mentor the chance to support next-generation talent in the industry.
Using her knowledge of sponsorship, investment, and the wider motorsport industry, Jess will join other entrepreneurs and business leaders in assessing commercial presentations from the international university teams participating in this year’s competition. Each presentation will be marked on set criteria and will follow a special condition where students will pitch a theoretical business.
Preparing student engineers for commercial success is now an integral part of the Formula Student competition, providing them with an opportunity to showcase their commercial acumen and pitching skills to leading industry figures. This uses automotive and engineering scenarios they are likely to face as they transition into the industry themselves.
Jess says: “I’m very excited to take part in Formula Student 2021. It’s such a highly-regarded competition for anyone planning to enter the automotive and motorsport industries and to be able to use my experience in motorsport to give back as a judge is a great opportunity. I’m really looking forward to the event and can’t wait to see the presentations.”
Now entering the twenty-first year of the competition, students participating in the 2021 Formula Student event on the 17th and 18th of June have been set the theoretical task of securing funding or investment for a single-seat race car manufacturing business. Many students will also use the experience as part of a degree-level project, while the judges’ feedback and final scoring go towards their team’s overall marking within the competition.
Jess will be using her experience as a business owner, former Porsche racing team boss, and motorsport sponsorship consultant to assess student business presentations from as far as Mexico and Hong Kong. This is an exciting opportunity to be involved with such an important part of the industry.
Jess adds: “The work IMechE does with Formula Student is such a vital part of the industry. Being invited to be a judge is incredible as I know how valuable the competition is to students making their way into motorsport.”
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