Auckland-based university student Andrew McLaren has become the first New Zealand recipient of an internship from McLaren Automotive.
The internship sees McLaren, no relation, join the manufacturer's Research and Development engineers for nine weeks at their technology centre in Woking, England.
"It's a field that is very hard to get into because there is very little opportunity in New Zealand, so I thought I would never get a chance like this," said Andrew.
"I can't wait, I would love to be at the forefront of that kind of innovative thinking. I'd like to do something that would benefit society."
The third year mechatronics engineering student grew up in Dargaville and attended the local high school before shifting south to study engineering at the University of Auckland.
Among those to comment on the internship was Amanda McLaren, daughter of Bruce McLaren and ambassador for the marque.
"I'm delighted to welcome Andrew to McLaren Automotive to continue his education," she said. "Even though my father passed away many years ago, the connection between McLaren and New Zealand still remains very strong and the parallels in both of their early careers are especially poignant."
The announcement was one of several revealed during the McLaren Future Legacies Celebration Dinner last week. The internship will be part of an ongoing relationship between the University of Auckland and McLaren, including support for their Formula SAE programme.
"This scholarship that we're doing is something that we believe very passionately in," McLaren chief executive Mike Flewett said during the event. "We met with the people from Auckland University, we loved what they did, we feel a huge debt of gratitude to New Zealand and to the foundation of the company.
"You need to give back, so being able to partner with Auckland University, to put in place this international scholarship. It's fabulous to be able to offer that."