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Siriotek. A New Race Begins.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo • 7 May 2019
Some time ago I received an invitation from McKinsey European Operations Practice to be their guest speaker at the “Tune your Career” event which will take place on May 16th-18th at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. I feel both flattered and enthusiastic at the prospect of sharing my experience to inspire brilliant young professionals, especially as this invitation comes unexpectedly at a very important time in my own career. So this is perhaps a good moment for a brief emotional reflection on the past while keeping eyes and mind firmly on the future.
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
Exactly 20 years ago I had just graduated with distinction winning prizes for the final project but my sleepless nights were filled with anxious thoughts about the future. For weeks I had been incessantly flooding every F1 team with CVs and carefully worded cover letters. The response was invariably a very polite “No thanks”, sometimes accompanied by the usual consolatory formula: “We will keep your details on record”.
This being 1999, LinkedIn was yet to come and getting in touch with decision makers within organisations was difficult. In addition F1 was a closed and secretive small universe with Teams’ personnel a fraction of the huge corporate operations they are today and little room for new graduates. The few positions available were for experienced professionals, advertised on specialised press like IMechE’s Professional Engineering (still one of my favourite readings today).
LEGO DAYS
For as long as I can remember I have been a car nut, initiated to motorsport at a very early age by the duly care of my incredibly enthusiastic uncle. His magic trick was turning up at my parents’ without notice just before a racing weekend to collect me and drive to event destinations around Europe. Needless to say each time I was thrilled beyond belief. One day we were sitting on the main stand at Imola looking at the starting grid of my first F1 race. When the red lights went on he looked at me and realised I could not bear the huge roar of all engines revving up together, so the best thing he could come up with was to grip my wrists and force my hands away from my ears (where they were firmly pressed). His excuse for such a cruel act? He did that so I could never forget the “music” of NA engines before “muffled turbos” would take over the sport.
It worked.
Back at home I would delve deeply into technical details on any car magazine I could get hold of (they now fill a large room) and any time left was devoted to creating countless mechanical things with Meccano and Lego Technics. My last effort was at 14 and now sits on a showcase shelf in the form of a fully custom 3 gear transmission box equipped with a locking differential, built using a universal generic set (unlike the now ubiquitous model sets which come with instructions for building a specific Lego-design car or helicopter – i.e. killing creativity in the making!).
LIVING THE DREAM
For the record my first job after graduation was with Ricardo UK at Shoreham where I learned the ropes (and more) about real-world engineering. With insights, it was a great place to start my career and when the opportunity to join Sauber Petronas came along a few years later I felt more than ready to grab it in excitement.
The years that followed have been a fantastic journey into my childhood dream. I feel privileged and grateful to my family and many colleagues and friends who have supported me along the way not just to make it into F1 but also progress and go on to taste the incredible joy of winning the 2008 F1 Championship with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren: a truly astonishing experience for a car and motorsport enthusiast which I will treasure for the rest of my life.
F1 is the greatest global stage for engineers chasing celebrity and most people in the Circus are attracted by the spotlights and the associated kudos. For me the most thrilling emotions have always come from inside.
It’s the incredibly fulfilling sense of achievement that comes after cracking a new problem, coming up with an innovative concept or working together to take an idea all the way to full realisation that really makes my day, and the learning that every time comes along is a welcome bonus. It’s a feeling that goes back to the Meccano and Lego days and I feel lucky and grateful for this source of motivation independent of external factors.
BLANK SHEET PROJECT
With this very spirit and the backing of some great mentors I started Siriotek Ltd (UK) in 2014 to contribute to ambitious, high tech projects across the world.
The largest project so far has been the Open Centre Turbine. A venture operating in Renewables based in Dublin was looking for help to develop a unique, submarine tidal turbine concept. This was a brand new design and they required engineering support from specialists familiar with feasibility of concepts in uncharted territory, as it is often the case in F1. Step by step the project took shape and eventually turned into a great technical achievement
with turbines successfully deployed at sea.
A NEW RACE
Today I feel the time is right to start a new race and a new chapter. Siriotek GmbH opens for business this week at Technopark Zurich, a leading hub for innovation. We are a group of creative and data-driven specialists with a common passion for engineering achievements and we will use our core skills to help ambitious companies develop innovative products and technologies.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The journey has been great so far and certainly worth the considerable effort and inevitable pains which have occasionally come along. 20 years have gone past in the blink of an eye and it’s not easy to condense the takeaway from all this time in a sentence, but a quote attributed to Ray Bradbury comes handy:
“Do what you love. Love what you do.”
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