Professor Mark Gillan To Toyota

[narain fan 0]

Gillan to Toyota

Professor Mark Gillan, BEng, PhD, MAIAA, FRAeS, CEng, currently employed at the University of Surrey, is to join Toyota as its new head of aerodynamics.

A graduate of Queens University, Belfast (the same as Renault technical director Bob Bell), Gillan worked for a couple of years as a research engineer with Bombardier and then became a lecturer at Queens before being hired by McLaren in 1998. After four years he moved to Jaguar Racing in 2002 as head of vehicle performance. In February 2005 he was offered a job as professor at the University of Surrey but obvioulsy an offer from Toyota was too much too turn down.

grand prix.com

[Max Mosley 2]

I think he's underqualified for Toyota.

[narain fan 0]

I think he's underqualified for Toyota.

give him some time,perhaps he will not be as bad as his predesessor

[UrKo 0]

give him some time,perhaps he will not be as bad as his predesessor

the time will tell if he's good or not.

But like you say we must give him some time..

[bajo39 0]

I think he's underqualified for Toyota.

Indeed, I've never heard of his brother...

[Autumnpuma 0]

A brief CV:

Nationality : british

Date of birth : january 25, 1968

Main fields of activity : chassis

1990 : graduated in aeronautical engineering from the Queen

[stopkidding 0]

A brief CV:

Nationality : british

Date of birth : january 25, 1968

Main fields of activity : chassis

1990 : graduated in aeronautical engineering from the Queen

[Autumnpuma 0]

academically he seems well qualified, the questions is if he has enough of a racing head to understand what makes a car go fast on a formula 1 track on a hot day in malaysia the day after a thunderstorm had cleaned the rubber off the track.....

He's head of the aero-department, not the technical director or the race engineer. His job is to sit at a CAD/CFD computer and approve or debunk the latest aero-bits on the car and delegate assignment as well as head the aero-design of next year's car. I would doubt he'd ever make it to the races...

[stopkidding 0]

He's head of the aero-department, not the technical director or the race engineer. His job is to sit at a CAD/CFD computer and approve or debunk the latest aero-bits on the car and delegate assignment as well as head the aero-design of next year's car. I would doubt he'd ever make it to the races...

true, but when evaluating different designs and flow patterns, he would have to be aware of what he is doing to a race car and how it would affect car performance. its not an isolated world. don't you think? for example is an ECU just some software that manipulates some bits and bytes or a system that manages an engine? so the knowledge of a race engine and even the throttle maps of the drivers have to be understood when you design the software.....

unless we are talking about the standard ECU for next year which is just any engine unit manipulating some random data....

[Autumnpuma 0]

true, but when evaluating different designs and flow patterns, he would have to be aware of what he is doing to a race car and how it would affect car performance. its not an isolated world. don't you think? for example is an ECU just some software that manipulates some bits and bytes or a system that manages an engine? so the knowledge of a race engine and even the throttle maps of the drivers have to be understood when you design the software.....

unless we are talking about the standard ECU for next year which is just any engine unit manipulating some random data....

In the world of aero, you deal in numbers. Each weather condition is only a series of numbers that affect the airflow around the car. I'm quite sure he would know how temperatures affect air pressure and would build into any adjustable wing the ability to handle any forseeable grip condition. This would seem to be a basic requirement of any aero-guy. His CV lists stints at both Jaguar and McLaren so I would imagine he knows his way around an F1 car.

Remember, as head of aero, he's not at the track telling people how to adjust the wings. He's in the windtunnel directing his aero guys in front of a computer.

[Max Mosley 2]

Sounds pretty qualified to me....

Second rate qualifications from a third rate institution I say. Toyota have been had. Let me provide my own CV for the forum's perusal. I have forwarded a copy to Toyota.

1986: For a primary school science project, showed Feynman the cause of the Challenger explosion.

1990: In a high school English lesson, corrected all of Shakespeare's spelling mistakes in the 1st Folio.

1991: Disproved the existence of God.

1992: Assumed status of God.

1993: Removed myself to a plane of existence not blighted by Sato and Karty fans.

I humbly await Toyota's response.

[Autumnpuma 0]

1986: For a primary school science project, showed Feynman the cause of the Challenger explosion.

You were alive in '86?

[ecapdeville 0]

You were alive in '86?

yes, he was 123 years old...

[nojvnof1 0]

1990: In a high school English lesson, corrected all of Shakespeare's spelling mistakes in the 1st Folio

[Max Mosley 2]

You were alive in '86?

As elucidated in my CV, I was still mortal at that point in your time. The concept of "life" is not adequate to describe my current existence.