Williams Reveals Great Initiative With Key Sponsor For Engineering Academy

Saajan Jogia | Sep 5, 2024

May 3, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Williams driver Alexander Albon (23) races out of turn 17 during F1 Sprint Qualifying at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images / John David Mercer-Imagn Images

The Williams F1 team partnered with key sponsor Komatsu in launching a new Engineering Academy on Thursday. The two entities share the common goal of advancing its team up the Formula 1 grid by offering more opportunities to untapped talent from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) backgrounds.

The announcement was made during the Italian Grand Prix weekend atop Williams' motorhome, where team principal James Vowles explained the importance of the Engineering Academy. As quoted by Autosport.com, he said:

“Engineering is a huge domain across many disciplines. I really look forward to seeing this academy grow and take off, I have seen the plans and I am excited by what it will produce, I think it will work hand and hand with what we are doing within Williams, it is a natural fit.

“I myself, about 30 years ago, entered a similar mechanism, I was a graduate entering Formula 1 and F1 30 years ago didn’t have any idea what to do with graduates whatsoever.

“It really struck me that I wanted to make sure we provide opportunity for future generations, invest in future generations because they are the ones who will become our leaders in time to come.

“It is an incredibly important part of what Williams is today and what Williams will be in the next five to 10 years, this investment shows immediately that the Williams journey is not one about short-cutting, it is the one about putting foundations in place with the graduates of the future.”

The Academy also plans to offer a comprehensive range of graduate schemes, apprenticeships, placements, and work experience, positioning students as leaders in nurturing engineering talent. Williams Chief HR Officer, Ann Perrins added her views:

“The Engineering Academy has been running for a number of years and the principle behind it really is finding the next generation of high-potential talent from a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) perspective.

“From a global perspective, we look to engage quite a wide range of students, working with ‘F1 in Schools’ and we will take 10 students onto the programme each year. We look to invest in this year-on-year and the principles are that we find great talent, help them to develop and give them a really fantastic experience.”

Williams announced a multi-year deal in February with Komatsu- a renowned Japanese multinational specializing in construction, mining, forestry, and military equipment. Perrins added:

“Komatsu is a relatively new partner for us, but straight away we were really aligned on some of these key opportunities to work together.

“The main thing to say is that with these really important partnerships like Komatsu, it is much more than the stickers on the car. It's making sure that we really bring great value to the partnership.”

Todd Connolly, Vice President of Global Brand Transformation at Komatsu, highlighted that diversity is a key focus of the partnership. He explained that leveraging Komatsu's 64,000 global team members will help expand the academy's reach and provide valuable learning opportunities to potential talents. He said:

“Diversity is a huge focus in our industry and in Komatsu, particularly. Historically, it's been more male-dominated careers in our industry and it's absolutely our focus, right up to the most senior levels in the organisation, to grow gender diversity.

“This program also widens the talent pool geographically – Komatsu has more than 64,000 team members globally, so this program will open up opportunities to people all around the world. Aptitude shouldn’t be limited by geographical location.

“When we started talking to Williams and found that they have a very similar focus and very much a shared ambition around developing talent, the synergy just felt right. The two organisations, Williams and Komatsu, have shared values and a shared focus on the development of people.”

He added:

“Our goal is to create value together with Williams. The previous partnership was, at the time, about developing technologies. The partnership we have now is about developing people and also raising awareness of STEM careers in our sector.

“The participants through the Engineering Academy are going to make for amazing, high potential, high performance candidates at the end of their educational journey - we'll have to find a way to share them between us and Williams!”