• Capabilities
    • INTELLIGENCE
      • Intelligence home
      • Solid state lidar
      • AliveDrive
      • Camera
      • Technical partnerships
    • Electrification
      • Electrification home
      • BTCC Hybrid System
      • BATTERY
        • Battery home
        • BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
        • Integrated battery solution
      • MOTOR
        • Motor home
        • Automotive ISG
        • Aerospace UAV
    • Data acquisition & analysis
      • Data acquisition & analysis home
      • Cosworth Toolbox
      • Diablo
    • Management & control
      • Management & control home
      • Products
      • Electronics & software consultancy
    • Engine
      • Engine home
      • Manufacturing
        • Manufacturing home
        • Production manufacturing
        • Prototype manufacturing
        • Technology
        • Quality
      • Testing & development
      • Engineering Consultancy
      • Pistons
    • Case studies
  • About us
    • About us home
    • 60 years of Cosworth
    • APPRENTICESHIPS
    • Graduates
    • Current opportunities
    • Recruitment agencies
  • News
  • Products
    • All products
    • Race products
  • Customer support
    • Support forum
    • Porsche motorsport
    • Returns
    • PDR software
    • Toolbox license
  • Contact
  • Staff Portal
  • Capabilities
      • Intelligence
      • Electrification
      • Data acquisition & analysis
      • Management & control
      • Engine
      • Case studies
      • Solid State Lidar
      • AliveDrive
      • Camera
      • Technical partnerships
      • Manufacturing
      • Testing & development
      • Engineering consultancy
      • Pistons
      • BTCC Hybrid System
      • Battery
      • Motor
      • Diablo
      • Cosworth Toolbox
      • Products
      • Electronics & software consultancy
        • Component manufacture
      • Battery management system
      • Integrated battery solutions
      • Production manufacturing
      • Prototype manufacturing
      • Technology
      • Quality
      • Automotive ISG
      • Aerospace UAV
  • About us
    • 60 years of Cosworth
    • Current opportunities
    • Apprenticeships
    • Graduates
    • Recruitment agencies
  • News
  • Products
    • All products
    • Race products
  • Customer support
    • Support forum
    • Porsche motorsport
    • Returns
    • PDR software
    • Toolbox license
  • Contact
  • Staff portal
  • Group
    • Group home
    • The Cosworth advantage
    • 60 years of Cosworth
  • Capabilities
    • INTELLIGENCE
      • Intelligence home
      • Solid state lidar
      • AliveDrive
      • Camera
      • Technical partnerships
    • Electrification
      • Electrification home
      • BTCC Hybrid System
      • BATTERY
        • Battery home
        • BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
        • Integrated battery solution
      • MOTOR
        • Motor home
        • Automotive ISG
        • Aerospace UAV
    • Data acquisition & analysis
      • Data acquisition & analysis home
      • Cosworth Toolbox
      • Diablo
    • Management & control
      • Management & control home
      • Products
      • Electronics & software consultancy
    • Engine
      • Engine home
      • Manufacturing
        • Manufacturing home
        • Production manufacturing
        • Prototype manufacturing
        • Technology
        • Quality
      • Testing & development
      • Engineering Consultancy
      • Pistons
    • Case studies
  • About us
    • About us home
    • 60 years of Cosworth
    • APPRENTICESHIPS
    • Graduates
    • Current opportunities
    • Recruitment agencies
  • News
  • Products
    • All products
    • Race products
  • Customer support
    • Support forum
    • Porsche motorsport
    • Returns
    • PDR software
    • Toolbox license
  • Contact
  • Staff Portal
HomeNews
  INSPIRED ENGINEERING WITH
BRUCE WOOD

April 16, 2020

In the first of a series of in-depth chats with some of Cosworth’s key players, Managing Director of Powertrain, Bruce Wood took time out of his busy schedule to reflect on his passion for engineering, how the company has rolled with the times, and how he remains motivated – even when working from home!

What inspired you to become an engineer?

I’ve always found beauty in well-designed products and enjoyed making things, so I had early aspirations to be involved in design. I studied all the appropriate modules as part of a Mechanical Engineering BSc degree, and it went from there. Knowing how hard it is to achieve small things in engineering, I have long been awed by big things – ship, railway and bridge builders, people like Brunel. And John Barnard, in my lifetime, father of many racing innovations and the strength of character to move Ferrari development to Guildford!”

What have been some of the most impressive inventions or innovations in your opinion over the past 60 years?

The internet has changed the world in many ways – some good, some bad. Looking at the current situation, it is hard to imagine how we would have kept businesses running and family and friends communicating without it.

How does a Managing Director manage working from home in circumstances like these? 

Like many people I have spoken to, working from home has turned out to be easier than I thought. In fact, if anything it is easier to get hold of people as they will be at home, rather than somewhere across our 11-factory site. It is lonely, though. Like many people though I am looking forward to when we can return to a normal office environment.

How do you keep the workforce motivated and energised?

I try to send round regular updates and keep us focussed on as much normality as we can. Whilst COVID-19 is underlying every hour of every day of course, then we are trying to focus on our delivery to customers the same as we did before and will do after. Working remotely demands a willingness from everyone to make it work. Fortunately, this is something we have in spades.

How can Cosworth play a role in changing the face of engineering and manufacturing in the future?

The watch words for the future will be flexibility and adaptability. There will always be a need for world-class engineering and manufacturing, but the applications will change. Cosworth has reinvented itself before, and we are well placed for future challenges. Cosworth’s USPs are its complete end-to-end capability, experience and its mindset. A lot of changed in how we work, and on what we work, although the engine remains at the centre of most of it. This change will continue. What defines Cosworth has always been our ‘spirit’, which comes from the people. Cosworth has always been more than the sum of its parts, always punched above its weight, and I like to think there’s a little bit of magic dust in there. Always has been, and hopefully always will be.

With what projects have you been most proudly associated over the years?

Designing the 1996 IndyCar engine was a lifetime ambition realised, the decade heading up American racing was incredibly rewarding. 2003 was also a special moment, when we back-to-back tested our Indy engine and were so much faster than the established engine. Becoming Managing Director, getting us into sustainable profit. And of course, I can add to that now the incredible team effort of the Easter weekend in responding to the call to deliver medical ventilator parts to help in the battle against COVID-19.

Cosworth is still widely known for the DFV engine. What other hidden gems have flown under the radar comparatively?

In the 1990s, we were very successful in IndyCar racing, which is not so well known. Then, in F1, the 2006 CA engine was much better than its results showed. A real hidden gem is the AG – a 12bhp diesel, two-stroke drone engine. This represents all the best things of Cosworth but hardly anyone ever hears of it.

What will define the 2020s?

Within our industry a coalescing of the wide-ranging views and opinions on the role of electrification and the Internal Combustion Engine in transport. The debate needs to become less divisive to progress

What do you expect Cosworth to be best known for in the next decade?

Excelling at what we do, providing a service which can’t be had anywhere else, providing a second family for the employees. It could be in any number of areas, but our experience lies in mechanical design, development and manufacture of propulsion devices, so likely this is where we will continue to focus. Cosworth is all about designing and making efficient machines – in fact, motor racing, where we started, is only about efficiency in many ways, whether it is power-to-weight ratio or specific fuel consumption. This focus on efficiency has never been more relevant, in new and future propulsion systems – whatever they are fuelled by!

What is your leadership style?

Decisive. Not always rightly, of course, but I am generally of the view that action is better than inaction. Roger Penske put his success down to just making more decisions than others, so there is a precedent I am following, while hopefully empowering along the way.

What three things can you not live without in your work life?

Coffee, a sense of humour and a sense of purpose.

Finally, what advice would you offer to young people interested in pursuing a STEM career?
There is a huge array of careers in engineering, so investigate all the options. If you have ever been curious about how something works, or picked up a pencil, sketched an idea on the back of an envelope, a career in engineering might just be for you…

 

 

Related articles

T.50 Supercar: The Greatest V12 Road-Car

Read more

Gordon Murray Automotive: T.50 on Track

Read more

Hypercar Engines: Aston Martin Valkyrie V12

Read more

Powering Gordon Murray Automotive’s T.50 supercar

Read more

Case studies

  • ME ENGINE – MAXIMISING EFFICIENCY

    OVERVIEW With current demands on the automotive industry including climate change and changing consumer trends, manufacturers are always seeking new... MORE >

  • HONDA NSX OE MANUFACTURING

    OVERVIEW With Honda’s NSX celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2018, the iconic manufacturer set to mark this momentous milestone by... MORE >

  • WIND TUNNEL TESTING

    Wind tunnel testing has been a key component of aerodynamic development for decades... MORE >

Follow

An exciting opportunity has come up for a Tooling Technician to join our components team based in #Northampton. If you are keen to join our team, get in touch with us today. #Jobs #ToolingTechnician https://bit.ly/3qaR6k1

When you need an off-the-shelf management and control product or something a little more bespoke, we’ve got you covered. Discover more:  https://www.cosworth.com/capabilities/management-and-control/products/ #Technology #Engineering #Automotive

Follow
From off-the-shelf management and control products From off-the-shelf management and control products to something a little more tailored, we’ve got you covered. We can provide our customers valuable support with our bespoke development and consultancy service. Visit our website to learn more.
#Cosworth #Automotive #Technology #Engineering #Management #Control #Solutions #Consultancy #EngineeringConsultancy #Development #Electronics
We’ve updated Diablo, our data acquisition and c We’ve updated Diablo, our data acquisition and control system software. Accurately synchronise data and video using the new “Media Channels” feature – a valuable feature for applications including driving simulator loggers and aerodynamic testing. 
#Cosworth #Diablo #Automotive #Motorsport #DataAcquisition #WindTunnelTesting 
#DrivingSimulation #Technology #AerodynamicTesting #Testing #ControlSystems #Software
We do love a challenge, especially one that pushes We do love a challenge, especially one that pushes our capabilities. Tasked by a large OEM customer to deliver an engine with excellent fuel efficiency over a broad operating range, we relished this fantastic opportunity to put our experience to the test. The result? A 2.0 litre inline 4 engine with fantastic thermal efficiency and very low BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) figures that also produces a very healthy 210kW of power.

#Engineering #Automotive #Efficiency #Engine #EngineDevelopment #OEM #Innovation
The 2021 @btcc season is just around the corner. E The 2021 @btcc season is just around the corner. Everyone’s getting excited for this year’s championship. The full grid will be equipped with our Cosworth electronics solution and we will be on hand in the pitlane supporting the teams. Behind the scenes our excitement is building as we prepare for the 2022 season, we are continuing with development work on our bespoke hybrid system which will debut next year.
#Cosworth #BTCC #Bespoke #Hybrid #Electrification #Automotive #Motorsport #Technology #Innovation #Car

COLLABORATING WITH

CAPABILITIES
  • Intelligence
  • EV/Hybrid
  • Data aquisition & analysis
  • Management & control
  • Engine
  • Case studies
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
  • Support forum
  • Porsche Motorsport
  • Returns
  • Toolbox support
  • Suppliers
PEOPLE
  • 60 years of Cosworth
  • Apprenticeships
  • Graduates
  • Current opportunities
INFORMATION
  • News
  • Products
  • Case studies
  • Covid-19
  • Contact
  • Legal policies
CAPABILITES
  • Sensors
  • Intelligence
  • EV/Hybrid
  • Data aquisition & analysis
  • Management & control
  • Engine
  • Case studies
INFORMATION
  • News
  • Products
  • Case studies
  • Covid-19
  • Contact
  • Legal policies
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
  • Support forum
  • Porsche motorsport
  • Returns
  • Toolbox support
  • Suppliers
PEOPLE
  • 60 years of Cosworth
  • Apprenticeships
  • Graduates
  • Current opportunities
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
© Copyright 2021 Cosworth. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery
We use cookies to give you the best online experience. Please let us know if you agree to all of these cookies. No, take me to settings.