From 'paperwork' to F1 CAD/CAM design

Designers can develop a car using high-tech ways, or they can rely on their own ingenuity and sweat of the brow. One young bloke familiar with both methods goes by the name of Paul – and he works in Red Bull Racing's F1 facility in Milton Keynes.

Forgive him his nerdiness, because Paul's fastidious attention to detail in model cars he has been building since the age of eight has led him inevitably to living the dream. His father bought him a kit to build models out of paper for his eighth birthday, and he has been creating highly accurate and detailed models ever since.

In his working life with Red Bull Paul uses Siemens PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) CAD/CAM software, which has been chosen by Daimler AG as its standard global platform for vehicle development, and was Ford's tool of choice for development of its new GT, set for production in 2016.

While Paul's work with RBR is very much at the 'cottage industry' end of the scale for vehicle development, Siemens claims its PLM software can handle the challenge right up the other end – handling 'big data' with ease and substantially reducing costs of vehicle development.

But even in the modern era there's still room for those with passion, like Paul, to take the road less travelled.