Calling all potential F1 engineers

For the third consecutive year, the Infiniti Engineering Academy has begun a global search for the world's best up-and-coming student engineering talent to work with both the Japanese luxury brand and the Renault Sport Formula One Team.

As in the previous two years, the 2016 academy will expose young engineers a unique automotive-to-F1 training program that draws on Infiniti's technical partnership with the Renault F1 team.

Having launched the careers of previous winners William Priest and Eric LaRoche, the academy this year invites applicants from China, Europe, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Asia and Oceania, including Australia. The Middle East and US will be confirmed at a later date.

This year will include a wider range of experiences and opportunities for the six winners of each regional final, thanks to the added depth of knowledge transfer that Infiniti's technical partnership with the new Renault F1 team brings, with Infiniti's performance hybrid expertise being used for joint ERS development in Viry-Châtillon, France.

Successful applicants will gain a mix of academic and professional experience across disciplines including electronics, aerodynamics, mechanical design and composite design.

"Year on year, we continue to strive to improve the academy, and now, with our new and deep-reaching Technical Partnership with the Renault Sport Formula One Team, we can offer six engineers a truly technically rich, multi-discipline engineering placement," said Tommaso Volpe, global director of Infiniti Motorsport.

"Not only will they spend six months at the Infiniti Technical Center for Europe (Cranfield, UK), they will also experience the facilities at the Renault Sport Formula One Team base in Enstone, Oxfordshire. Combining opportunities to work at both companies means our 2016 Infiniti Engineering Academy winners are set to craft their careers from the outset with an incredible 12 months at the cutting-edge of big business automotive and motorsport engineering.

"This year more than ever our close relationship with F1 brings direct benefits to the development of our road cars. As the Technical Partner to the newly formed Renault Sport Formula One Team, specifically for the co-development of the Renault Sport R.E.16 Power Unit's Energy Recovery System (ERS), our Academy engineers will work across both road car and race car hybrid systems; cross-pollenating the application of the mirrored technologies. Just as the winners from previous years have done, the six candidates we find in 2016 will play a key role in bridging the gap between us and the race team.

"Infiniti is in the middle of a major product offensive, and the Infiniti Direct Response Hybrid performance hybrid powertrain technology is a pillar of the Infiniti range of high performance vehicles, now and in the future. Our performance philosophy is deeply rooted in hybrid technology; we are pioneers of electrifying electrified performance, and as F1 continues to develop and flourish in this area, so too will our engineers working within the Renault Sport Formula One Team.

"We're now in our third successive year, and year-on-year we've grown the number of Infiniti Engineering Academy placements available. From three, to five, and to six for 2016 – our global engineering talent search continues to offer the ultimate work placement for the cream of engineering undergraduate talent.

"We want candidates that dare to be different – candidates who think about challenges from fresh angles and are brimming with the kind of creative human talents that we believe drive the greatest advances in high performance technologies. 'Game changers' may sound clichéd, but the automotive industry and F1 have never been more competitive, so we need the best of the best."