Engineering A World of Possibilities

Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day, together with Team partner Rokt .

The Red Bull Technology Campus Rokt earlier this month, when we celebrated International Women in Engineering Day with team partner Rokt. Hosting a group of talented young women at our Technology campus and virtually from around the world. The day provided the opportunity to meet and hear from inspiring engineers across different disciplines and backgrounds, with a view of motivating the group to craft their career paths and dream big in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sphere.

Principal Strategy Engineer at Oracle Red Bull Racing, Hannah Schmitz said, “I’d really like to inspire and encourage people to follow a career in STEM. Gender doesn’t have an impact on your ability to be here or to do any of the jobs in Formula One or other STEM industries. Just because you don’t see someone like you in a role, doesn’t mean you can’t be there.”

The contributions of women across our team are invaluable, their expertise and dedication across multiple STEM disciplines play a crucial role in achieving success on and off track. Oracle Red Bull Racing, together with team partner Rokt, are on a mission to foster greater diversity in Formula 1, sim racing and STEM, unleashing possibilities and inspiring women and girls around the world to get involved through an array of trailblazing programs.

The day started with a factory tour, a chance to go behind the scenes and see firsthand what it takes to make a championship wining car, meeting the team that are a crucial part of that. Followed on by 1-2-1 and networking sessions where attendees could speak directly with members of our teams, Gender Inclusioneers and Gender Allies, all of whom are living proof that change begins with us. Role models providing insightful advice into the industry.

Chief Designer at Oracle Red Bull Racing, Craig Skinner advised “There is no single route into F1. There’s always a way in. Take the opportunities that are available at the time. Go for it and dream big”.

The commitment to foster an inclusive environment was palpable throughout the event and in our efforts to reach as many females as possible, we live streamed the panel discussions with the help of our innovation partner Zoom , sharing the conversation with thousands globally.

The group started off by discussing the role of role models, and the message was clear “dream big as opportunities really can come from anywhere! It took the smallest thing to inspire me” said Calum Nicholas, Senior PU Assembly Technician at Oracle Red Bull Racing, “If somebody asks you if you can do something, say yes. You can learn when you get there.”

Seeing someone you aspire to be, having that inspiration to follow someone’s path is so important. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case and you might need to trailblaze a new path, show what you’re capable of and inspire those around you “My confidence came from being stubborn…I didn’t have the skillset originally, but I was determined! Drown out the noise and dream big. Nothing is impossible,” said Andra Groapa, Analysis Engineer at Red Bull Ford Powertrains.

The panels were also joined by talented engineers from Rokt who reflected on their journey and the opportunities they’ve uncovered within the world of STEM “What’s fun to me is the wide variety of fields that my skills are applicable in” said Garima Singh, Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Rokt, and with a wide variety of engineers and STEM applications, you can find a role for you. We want to encourage many more woman to pursue a career in STEM and discover the endless opportunities available “Be open to opportunities and keep learning. Reach out to industry mentors. It’s never too late to have a career in STEM. It’s ever growing” added Miran Nakamura, Software Engineer at Rokt.

The multiple panel discussions inspired attendees to dream big, challenge norms, and create a more equitable future. Regardless of your background there is a place for you in STEM “It shows the path isn’t necessarily straight, you can take some turns and end up exactly where you need to be. It’s important to know that not everybody sat on this stage comes from the same background, everyone is on a different path” said Aimee Gibbard, Design Engineer at Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Celebrations didn’t stop there, we also celebrated the one-year anniversary of Rokt the Rig, which launched at this very event back in 2023. As a first-of-its-kind sim racing talent scouting programme, we are trailblazing the way for women in sim racing “I’ve never seen another team focus so much on developing women in Sim racing…it’s felt good that people have realised how serious we are about it. There are so many eyeballs on women in racing now!” said Ash Vandelay, Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing Ambassador, “It was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the impact of the program in the last year, seeing video testaments from the 6 global finalists speaking about their progress in the short amount of time they have been a part of was phenomenal.”

“The finalists were chosen completely on merit by their lap times, but when we looked into it, there were sim racers from so many different nationalities and backgrounds, all using different equipment” said Shristi Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rokt, continuing “Diversity comes from opportunity; if you create opportunities, you have more diversity. In partnership with Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing, the Rokt the Rig programme was able to give a platform to women in sim racing. I’ve seen it work, and it feels great to see the momentum around it.”

Rokt the rig will have 5 races this year, starting at the Hungarian GP, if you haven’t already you can still join the programme! “It’s not the equipment that makes you fast. It’s the practice. Get a minimal setup, a controller, or a wheel, and just do it!” said Ash to everyone who hasn’t tried sim racing yet.

We wrapped up the day more inspired to take action than ever. With endless possibilities within the world of STEM, there is a space for you here. Hard work and dedication, along with passion and conviction will provide a slipstream for you to build your dream career, one that isn’t linear and has no predetermined formula for success. As we reflect on INWED 2024, let’s continue to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering and pave the way for future generations.