Formula Student drives Middlesex grads into top AI engineering roles

Middlesex graduates are landing jobs in the driverless vehicles sector, after participating for the first time in a premier engineering education event

A team of eight students, supported by technical tutors Aleksandar Zivanovic and Nick Weldin, travelled to Silverstone to enter the AI competition part of IMechE’s Formula Student. Since 1981, the event has been challenging university teams to produce a prototype racing car. Formula Student AI opens the event up to institutions like Middlesex which don’t teach mechanical engineering, and the competition offers students a chance to refine skills and gain vital industry experience. 

The Dynamic Driving Task which Middlesex entered requires programming software to enable an autonomous systems-ready mini racing car to negotiate a course lined with cones. Middlesex faced an uphill struggle as a first-time entrant for reasons including not having raised real-life sponsorships (the means by which teams fund themselves) and having fewer students on site than most – although there was a larger group of 22 connected via WhatsApp group. Blazing sunshine on the day caused glare off the track, complicating the working of Middlesex’s light-guided LIDAR sensor system.

Despite these challenges,, the Middlesex team got the software to work and achieved 4-5 minutes of autonomous driving. Team technical lead Oluwatunmise Shuaibu said: “We exceeded expectations. The car was slow but we got it to act autonomously. I’m pretty happy and proud of everyone.”

Teammate Arash Bazrarfshan said taking part was “one of the greatest experiences I’ve had with competitions”. Arash found networking with different companies a highlight, just as it had been at the Siemens Transform event in Manchester immediately beforehand, and it tangibly helped him secure a role. When he applied to become a Test Application Engineer for Baidu Apollo Intelligent Driving Systems, although they were looking for candidates with 3-5 years’ work history, his participation in Formula Student AI was considered highly relevant and he was successful at interview.

Arash is currently involved in testing the company’s autonomous taxi service, set for launch in 2027. Arash, who originally imagined he would study Pharmacy, advises aspiring students to “follow what they're passionate about. If you're passionate, you'll get the job”. He recommends Mechatronics and Robotics as a degree subject for its breadth, to keep options open and because  “you can apply for any engineering, manufacturing jobs you can see”.

Meanwhile Oluwatunmise said his training at Formula Student AI gave him the perfect knowledge to respond to a question about autonomous vehicles at an  interview with advanced robotics innovation company Humanoid. He said: “I wouldn’t say the interview process was very easy, but it was easier than I expected.”

Working on Formula Student AI alongside team president Ahsan Syed honed his workplace skills. “When you’re managing this level of people, there’s such a lot of logistics,” he said. “You learn to work through disagreements.

“It helped a whole lot in terms of project management, teamwork. This is how you’ll act in a professional setting.”

Another group of students is gearing up to take part in Formula Student AI 2027 and stand to benefit from this year’s entrants’ advice. 

The 2026 team members repeatedly bring up how well-prepared Middlesex students are for hands-on robotics or advanced manufacturing tasks, with university labs full of equipment including Niyro mini-robot arms and Festo Cyber Factory kit. They also praise an approach where lecturers “leave you to explore” says Oluwatunmise. 

Also in the team, Mihir Ragoonauth, now a graduate engineer with industrial automation and electrical engineering company NeoDyne applauds the investment made by former Head of Department of Design Engineering Professor Mehmet Karamanoglu. Mihir said: “Not a lot of unis have what we have: the experiences with software, the licences to run it and the opportunity to use it as much as possible.”

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