Category: DFT

Apprentice, Body Engineering, DFT, Electrical Engineering, Engineering, People, Software, Technology

Meet Our Pioneering Apprentices – Day 4 of 5

Jaguar Land Rover Careers

Mihaela Botnariuc successfully completed her Degree Apprenticeship in August 2018 and is now a Digital Optimisation Engineer in our Body Engineering team. As part of her technical training Mihaela gained a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Engineering from the University of Warwick, and is currently working towards a Master’s level qualification through our Technical Accreditation Scheme.

“In Body Engineering we are responsible for delivering almost everything the customer can see and touch on a vehicle. I work with the seating team to create digital models and tools that make our processes more efficient and enhance the overall quality of our products”.

“Our cars are beautiful, but to complete the package they require brilliant engineering. Even something as simple as choosing a material can be incredibly complex; we look at things like safety and crash performance, as well how the material looks, feels, and responds to customer usage over the lifetime of the vehicle”.

“At school I enjoyed the sciences, Maths, Art and Textiles, and saw myself going to university to study Mathematics. I didn’t know what I wanted to do afterwards and where I would apply my Maths degree once I obtained it. This was partly due to a lack of knowledge and experience of the wide applications of skills in the workplace.”

“I chose the Apprenticeship with Jaguar Land Rover because of my interest in STEM subjects and design. During the apprenticeship I had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and experience the vast number of areas that are involved in developing our cars. This allowed me to grow my understanding and make a more informed decision about which areas were most suited to my interests and strengths.”

“My role involves both working alone, investigating and delivering solutions for the teams I work with, and being part of a team trying to understand our internal customer requirements and how those can be met. Therefore being a good communicator is important when interacting in teams and with colleagues whose requirements I am trying to meet. Independent thinking is also crucial when delivering solutions to customers.”

“I enjoy taking on new challenges and problem solving, which is essential for my role. In a typical week I work on a variety of projects including user trials, research projects, and projects that have Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) or Computer Aided Design (CAD) requirements. All this helps to meet design and aesthetic requirements for the components, while also balancing that with internal engineering standards for quality and safety.”

Mihaela is on the Degree Apprentice programme. To find out more about the Advanced, Higher and Degree Apprentice programmes we currently offer at Jaguar Land Rover, check out our careers website.

Apprentice, Autonomous, DFT, Early Careers, Electrical Engineering, Electrified, Engineering, People, Software, Who We Are

Meet Our Pioneering Apprentices – Day 3 of 5

Jaguar Land Rover Careers

Simon FitzGerald is a Fifth Year Degree Apprentice in Electrical Engineering. Originally from an IT background, Simon is now an experienced member of our electrical team, and is working towards a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Warwick.

“For the past couple of years I have delivered the Interior Sensing Platform (ISP), ensuring high quality software delivery from suppliers, as well as making sure we have a robust plan to resolve technical issues. I planned the scope and delivery of upcoming software releases, analysing changes in requirements, resolving technical issues and tracking actions at a project level.”

“After leaving college I completed an IT apprenticeship and worked as an IT engineer for a few years. This served me well as it offered further learning opportunities and the prospect of real work with earning potential. Upon completing my IT apprenticeship, I soon felt I was lacking a challenge at work and began looking at future prospects including a new job role, university and higher apprenticeships.”

“The Jaguar Land Rover programme was absolutely the best option for me. I was excited to learn new skills that would be relevant to my career in engineering, whilst being challenged and rewarded for my efforts every day. Back then there wasn’t such a wide range of apprenticeships to choose from, so it’s been great to see the growth in popularity over the last five years.”

“What advice would I give to my younger self? ‘Go for it!’ In my experience, you will be rewarded for being pro-active in seeking out new opportunities and asking challenging questions both inside and outside the organisation. Initially I was more reluctant to speak up, particularly when dealing with suppliers. It was a daunting prospect to challenge engineers far more experienced than myself on what they were delivering. I was cautious about being seen as inexperienced, but the culture here really rewards that technical curiosity and drive. My professionalism and determination to improve our products has been met with incredible support and as a result I have achieved more than I ever thought possible.”

“What I love most about Jaguar Land Rover is the challenges that I face daily in this organisation. Every day is different, enabling me to develop and hone new skills in constructive and valuable ways.” 

Simon is on the Degree Apprentice programme. To find out more about the Advanced, Higher and Degree Apprentice programmes we currently offer at Jaguar Land Rover, check out our careers website.

Autonomous, DFT, Electrical Engineering, Engineering, People, Research, Software, Technology

THE REAL FACES OF JLR – Oriol Quintana Morales

Jaguar Land Rover Careers

What do you do at Jaguar Land Rover?

I work in the V2X department which basically means Vehicle-to-everything, and covers all kind of communication to other cars, infrastructure, cloud, pedestrians, etc. V2X will be an enabler for improving road safety, traffic efficiency and comfort.

For the last three years I have been working in the V2X Research department and mainly working on the V2X area of the government funded project called UK Autodrive. I have recently moved to the Pre-Development team to work on getting this technology in our cars.

What is the most enjoyable part of your job?

The most enjoyable and satisfactory part is when you see the V2X prototype systems that we have been working on for months working fine during the demonstration days to VIPs or to the press.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

The most challenging part of this job is that this technology keeps evolving because of the different working groups and consortiums in the world working on it. And as a company we have to make sure that our cars can communicate with the rest of world. In another words, we need to assure that Jaguar Land Rover cars speak the same language as the other cars.

Can you tell us about the research you’re currently working on?

In the UK Autodrive project that I previously mention, we have implemented a total of 7 V2X features, one of them is called GLOSA (Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory). This feature consists on the vehicle talking to the traffic light. Because of that the car will know when the traffic light will change to green or red. With that information the car will recommend the driver the speed that needs to drive for getting a green light pass.

What first stirred your interest in this area?

To be fair, when I joined the V2X department a few years ago I did not know much about V2X, but once you start understanding the basic principles is when you realise the big potential and the big impact that will create to the automotive industry. It was at that moment when my passion to V2X started.

What skills and tools do you use on a daily basis?

I basically use different programing tools for creating the initial V2X prototypes. The good thing of the early prototypes in research is that we have to do everything. From wiring the V2X antennas to the roof of the car to designing, programing and testing the applications with cars in test tracks or public roads.

What applications do you foresee for this research?

I can see most of the applications that we have researched and trialled on the marked in the near future, because most of them are also being tested in other regions of the world by different car manufacturers. All will be determined by the penetration in the market of that technology, because some features needs a high percentage of cars equipped with that technology.

If there is such a thing, can you describe a typical day for you?

A typical day can be quite varied, because of the multidisciplinary tasks that we perform. Some days we focus on programing and simulating our algorithms and some others we spend the whole day driving around testing our system.

How did you get interested in engineering?

I think that my interest to engineering started when I was a kid. I remember playing infinite hours with Lego type of games, where as a kid you start training some engineering skills. After that I started to be interested in electronics and robotics and I guess that this passion for new technology brought me to where I am today.

What do you love most about working at Jaguar Land Rover?

If I have to choose one thing I would say the people that I have been lucky to work with. Working at Jaguar Land Rover gives you the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and I find this fascinating because everyone always has a different point of view. Being able to work with this cross cultural environment is something that really enriches me as a person.

What piece of advice would you give someone who is considering a job at Jaguar Land Rover?

I would say that in Jaguar Land Rover there are plenty of different jobs and roles, so the best thing is to choose to work on something that you like or you have passion for.

DFT, Electrified, Technology

Next Generation Formula E Car

chubbar3jaguarlandrovercom

Unveiled at the London Design Museum, the Jaguar I-TYPE 3 replaces the I-TYPE 2, with the team hoping the bold new technology and innovation will propel them to the front of the pack. As part of the ‘Race to Innovate’ mission, Panasonic Jaguar Racing has developed the entire powertrain in-house meaning the car is more efficient that the outgoing model.

The biggest improvement to the new Jaguar and all the Formula E cars is the battery technology, as the cars will last the duration of the race without a swap mid-way through the race.

Team Director James Barclay said: “We expect the introduction of the new Generation 2 Formula E race cars and revised sporting regulations to result in a very close season of racing. We believe we are the first team to develop our powertrain entirely in-house, this gives us ultimate control in terms of design and development, and we hope this will put us at a competitive advantage.”

Season five marks the next chapter for Jaguar Racing’s electrification journey, as the I-TYPE 3 will be joined on the grid by the first all-electric production support series – the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY championship.

Autonomous, DFT, Technology

Developing Autonomous Off-Road Vehicles for the Future

chubbar3jaguarlandrovercom

The ambition is to develop self-driving cars that are capable of tackling all manner of terrain in any weather condition thanks to ‘5D’ technology, which combines acoustic, video, radar, light detection and distance-sensing data in real time. Together this data will allow the vehicle to become more aware of its environment.

Chris Holmes, Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Research Manager at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “It’s important that we develop our self-driving vehicles with the same capability and performance customers expect from all Jaguars and Land Rovers.

“Self-driving is an inevitability for the automotive industry and ensuring that our autonomous offering is the most enjoyable, capable and safe is what drives us to explore the boundaries of innovation. Cortex gives us the opportunity to work with some fantastic partners whose expertise will help us realise this vision in the near future.”

The Cortex project forms part of the company’s vision to make the self-driving car viable in the widest range of real-life, on- and off-road driving environments and weather.