01 Nov 2006
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McLaren Mercedes car
BAE Systems and Team McLaren Mercedes are celebrating ten years of successful partnership this year.
The ATC is playing an accelerating role in this hi-tech collaboration with a clutch of successful projects underway.
From topics as diverse as hydrodynamics to human factors, this meeting of minds from the worlds of Formula 1 racing and defence is a force to be reckoned with. Spectators at the 2001 Farnborough air show were agog when a Eurofighter Typhoon and a McLaren F1 car raced each other on the runway. The Typhoon won… but only just. Stunts like this are a public relations dream and there have been similar, dazzling media events over the decade of the BAE Systems and Team McLaren Mercedes alliance.
After all, competition, showmanship and performance is what Formula 1 racing is all about. But there’s more to this partnership than sheer entertainment. The two companies have grown to appreciate just what they can learn from each other about the potential of new technologies and the rapid translation of inspired ideas into engineering reality. The ATC is now an important part in that twoway exchange of knowledge.
So what does a company like BAE Systems get from partnering a thoroughbred like Team McLaren Mercedes? According to Malcolm Roberts, Technology Partnership Manager at BAE Systems, it’s all about gaining new perspectives on the engineering experience.
“The real benefit of the partnership is being able to look at alternative ways of doing engineering, in particular the ways that an outfit like Team McLaren Mercedes can move technology ideas forward with a much quicker time to product.” says Malcolm. “By rubbing shoulders with their counterparts at McLaren our engineers have brought some of that culture home with them.” he says.
As the relationship has developed, the ATC with its diverse capability, has been taking an expanding role in the application of new technology to F1 cars.
“Over the years, the scope of the work has grown from aerodynamics and structures to the whole of the car. This makes the ATC technologies increasingly relevant.” says Malcolm. “The ATC’s strength is in its breadth and depth. The ATC technologists are wanting and willing to get their technology out there on the streets and working with the people at Team McLaren Mercedes gives them the opportunity to do this on very short timescales. I see a lot of empathy between the staff in the two organisations.” he says.
One example of the success of this teamwork is the use of the ATC’s ability to model the movement of fuel in aircraft tanks to help understand how fluids move in racing car systems. As a direct result of applying the techniques and broadening their scope, the performance of the car was improved. When every system is working at the limits, squeezing out yet more performance is a huge challenge but even small improvements have a big effect for Team McLaren Mercedes.
As to the future, Malcolm is optimistic that the two partners can built on their successes.
“We want to capitalise on the work performed so far to move us closer to a true engineering partnership. For BAE Systems, this moves the relationship beyond the marketing benefits and towards a solid engineering and technology partnership. The emphasis is on a combination of technology, manufacturing and processes especially to reduce lead times from concept to realisation.” he says. The ATC hopes to continue and grow its rôle in this meeting of two remarkable engineering organisations.
