University of Auckland (UoA) mechanical engineering students Sabrina Yarndley (above, second from left) and Joshua Cates (centre) are the latest Bruce McLaren engineering scholars to travel to McLaren headquarters, to hone their skills at the Woking-based supercar company, which still bears the name of the Kiwi founder.
Sabrina and Joshua were greeted at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking by former UoA alumna Lizzy Grant (above, far left), herself a former Bruce McLaren engineering scholar in 2019 and now working on battery technologies for the company’s future electrified powertrains. They were also joined by fellow Kiwi Piers Scott (far right), the company’s executive director of PR, and Jim Marsh (second from right), chief transformation and people officer.
Joshua and Sabrina will be completing a three-month scholarship that will see them working in multiple departments across the company, based at the MTC and McLaren production centres where they will have stints with designers and engineers, as well as with marketing and aftersales teams to gain a unique insight into the workings of the 3000-strong workforce.
The Bruce McLaren Automotive Award was established at UoA in 2016, funded by Neil Paton, Eric Tracey and Rob Whitehouse "in honour of Bruce McLaren". Additional funding came from Sir Colin Giltrap in 2017.
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"The Faculty of Engineering and University are honoured by our ongoing connection with Bruce’s legacy through the Bruce McLaren Automotive scholarship and internship," says Professor Gerard Rowe, Dean of Engineering, University of Auckland. "We are grateful for McLaren Automotive’s ongoing support and to the generous donors who make this possible.
“We are incredibly proud of senior students Sabrina and Joshua who are now embarking on their three-month internships with McLaren. Their skills and passion for engineering, combined with the unique experience of their internships, will fuel our students’ passion for automotive engineering and set them on the road to exciting careers.”
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Bruce McLaren arrived in England in 1958 on a "Driver to Europe" scholarship and founded the racing team. In the 1960s, Bruce also unveiled the first McLaren supercar, in the M6GT.
After McLaren was tragically killed in a Can-Am testing accident at Goodwood in 1970, the team carried on for another decade, before being incorporated into Ron Dennis's Project Four Racing in 1981 - which is where the roots of the current organisation lie. But McLaren has always valued its heritage and Bruce McLaren's legacy as core values. McLaren Automotive was established in 2011 - in part, fulfilling Bruce's dream of producing supercars for the road.