Kyriakos Theofanidis - Junior Mechanical Engineer at Red Bull Ford Powertrains
Key Facts
Kyriakos at work with Red Bull Ford Powertrains
Current role: Junior Mechanical Engineer
Company: Red Bull Ford Powertrains
Country: STEM Racing Greece
Years competing: 2015 - 2016
School: Mandoulides Schools
A childhood Passion
“From a very young age I was really interested in motorsport due to my father and his rally team. I loved watching his races, and when I grew older, I even joined his team, initially as a crew member and later as his co-driver. The interest I had for cars and motorsport was known to my teachers, and so when my school joined the STEM Racing competition, they immediately introduced me to it. This was incredibly exciting as it was the first time I could apply my passion within my education environment.
Looking back now, getting involved in STEM Racing was an important first step on my way to achieving my dream, which was to be a Formula 1® engineer.”
Becoming World Champions
“I participated in the STEM Racing competition during the 2015 - 2016 season as a Mechanical Engineer with my team Infinite Racing. Infinite Racing was the team of Mandoulides Schools, from Thessaloniki, Greece.
In terms of our journey, we initially won the National Finals in Athens, Greece, achieving seven trophies which included, amongst others, Best Engineering Portfolio, Best Enterprise Portfolio, Best Research & Development and Best Verbal Presentation.
That was only the beginning though, as we finally achieved the title of World Champions at the STEM Racing 2016 World Finals in Austin, Texas. These moments are truly indescribable and the moment we were awarded the trophy is still a memory that gives me goosebumps.”
Kyriakos being awarded the World Champions title with his Infinite Racing teammates
Infinite Racing’s car
Determination is paramount
“Since I was one of the engineers in the team, the competition set the foundations of many engineering principles and tools that I later used in my university career, and now in my job.
A great example is the process of learning how to create engineering drawings in CAD software. Knowing how to use CAD while applying engineering principles at such a young age is a very good foundation for the future career of aspiring engineers.
However, alongside these technical skills, STEM Racing is a platform in which I also learned how to communicate, work efficiently with targets and deadlines, manage failures, and, finally, how to operate within a team and work with my teammates to achieve results and reach a common goal.”
“STEM Racing is not just another project that someone will write in his/her CV - it provides valuable experience that sets
the foundation for the next level of a successful academic and professional career. Due to that, it is definitely a project that many motorsport and automotive companies look out for in a candidate.”