Long has the engineering profession been plagued with stereotypes. The caricature of your average engineer makes this professional out to be socially awkward. They also come across as lacking in creativity. Well, here we set out to bust those myths! It couldn’t be further from the truth as you plainly see with these up-close profiles of three of our teammates. This is a compilation of their professional background, personal interests and perspectives on their profession. Each of them makes priceless contributions stemming from their specialty with rich professional and personal stories that clearly set Bold Valuable Tech engineers oceans apart from the rigid prejudices of lore. We invite you to meet three different types of industrious and committed engineers toiling away behind the scenes at Bold.
Gerard Sabate, Junior Composite Design Engineer
I received both my Bachelor and Master’s degrees at Polytechnic University of Catalonia. I was driven to further my education abroad, so I went on to do the MSc in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes University. This school’s claim to fame is that every F1 team has a least one Oxford Brookes’ graduate working with them. Before joining Bold, I got some great hands-on learning experiences while working in the aerodynamic department of the Formula Student Team at both Barcelona and Oxford Universities. What I truly cherish from that experience is not only do you design the aero and composites components of the car, but you are also responsible for manufacturing them, finding funding for the team and eventually competing against the best universities in the summer international competitions. All in all, it is a fine way to challenge yourself for the first time in engineering while improving soft skills. It gave me a glimpse at what it'd be like to choose this as my engineering career path.
No doubt, the most exciting project I have been involved in at Bold, so far since I'm sure there will be more to come, is one which involved one of our F1 clients. It certainly makes me very proud to know that I'm making a difference in the highly technical sport of F1. The combination of the dynamic team at Bold with the fast-paced workflow of this project makes it very exciting to go to work every morning, more indeed if it is Monday after an F1 race weekend!
In my free time I am usually doing something related to sports or adventure. On a weekly basis, I enjoy swimming and riding my bike through the mountains or near the river in my neighborhood. During winter, I enjoy snowboarding in the Pyrenees and a few months ago I started sailing with a sports catamaran. Although I'm just getting started with this sport and I have a steep learning curve ahead, it is very enjoyable!
Besides sports, a couple of friends and I have been preparing a classic rally car to participate in a desert raid, most likely in Morocco. Even though the current pandemic may end up bringing amateur competitions to a halt this year, we are hopeful to be able to join in a year's time.
As far as Bold Valuable Tech is concerned, working on the Bold team, made up of some engineers that are more senior than myself, truly makes going to the office a pleasure. Bold has also proven to be flexible to make for a better work life balance when possible or needed.
Sixto Huerga, Senior CAD Engineer
I have studied Industrial Technical Engineering with a specialty in Mechanics at the Zamora branch of the University of Salamanca, but I was hired before completing the program. I started out as a 3-D designer for automotive tooling, mainly welding tools, in Palencia and Valencia. From there, I've been assigned many other tasks in various companies: Processes Engineer for a wind turbine company in Pamplona, project manager for aeronautical tooling in Getafe, tooling designer and product development on bodywork in Barcelona, making engines in Valladolid as well as creating motorcycles in Barcelona. Of course, I didn’t do it all on my own. I was lucky to share those tasks with some pretty cool colleagues. My two main hobbies are music and film. I listen to music whenever I have the chance. On the weekends, I try to fit in as many films as possible, both newly released and the classics. My experience with carbon fiber components in aeronautics transfers easily into motorsports, which I have developed a penchant for. Thanks to Bold, I can do what I am most interested in as well as being involved in the development of extremely innovative components for the automobile sector.
Javier Mir, Design / Simulation Engineer
Currently, my post at Bold Valuable Tech involves projects that rely on CAD design for components, mostly for our clients in Motorsport. In addition, I have contributed to defining the dimensions of batteries and their cell characterization through testing, design cooling systems and do the CAD modeling for their different components from day one. Another integral part of my work is FEA simulation for composite components and CFD/thermal simulations which allows us to examine and check Bold's original designs. My B.S. in Industrial Technology Engineering and master's degree in industrial engineering with a specialization in Mechanics were both granted by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Bold is indeed my first job after completing my degrees. I felt quite prepared after having taken part in the university project 'Formula Student'. This project included the design and manufacturing of a prototype like those in Formula 1, which gave me skills I now use for our Motorsport projects. It was also a great opportunity to build my team working skills which is the key to success.
Out of all the great projects in Bold, the one that I can clearly say I have enjoyed the most so far was my role in supporting the CAD design for a Formula 1 team. Personally, this is a world that I'm passionate about and being able to see the work I had been doing for various months on the racetrack on TV is an amazing feeling. In my free time, I enjoy doing outdoor sports, meeting up for a drink with friends, watching some series on Netflix and playing the guitar. Hands down, my favorite pastime is watching Formula 1, since I'm a really big fan of the world of motors.
Busting myths
Bold is honored to have such hard-working professionals like Sabate, Huerga and Mir. Not only are they reliable teammates with a drive to work on projects involving high performing, compact and light-weight solutions for our valued partners, but they also bring with them their own uniqueness. No one can argue that they fit that outdated image of the dreary scientist with a dull outlook on life. Rather, we have here the epitome of youth invigorated and living life to its fullest, never missing a beat and ready to take on new challenges, be it personal or professional. They are not the exception, but rather the rule.
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