Institution news
Plymouth University student Jake Cronk has been awarded the prestigious Whitworth Scholarship from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
The scholarship will provide him with funding towards his studies and help him on his way to becoming a motorsports engineer once he returns to Mercedes upon graduation after having already completed a year-long industrial placement with the motorsports giant.
The scholarship award will also grant Jake membership of the Whitworth Society, giving him the opportunity to network with engineers across, something he anticipates making the most of.
“It is a huge honour to be given such a prestigious award,” Jake says. “Engineering is a very vocational area of study, and people get into it by very different routes, and it has taken me an awfully long time to get to the end of this course – almost nine years including my apprenticeship – and it is nice to be appreciated for everything I have done so far.
“I am really looking forward to the networking potential of being a scholarship winner. As an engineer, we can often be isolated in our own working environment, and it is refreshing to be able to speak to other people and hear some different perspectives on engineering.”
Jake’s passion for motorsport has been with him since a young age, and he says he is now looking forward to continuing his journey in motorsports engineering.
“My main passion for engineering has been fuelled by my love for the internal combustion engine, which has been with me since I was a child,” he says. “My brother and father both had motorbikes, and anything with an internal combustion engine interests me till this day.
“When I return to Mercedes I will be on four different engineering rotations over the course of four years, giving me the opportunity to work in different engineering divisions as well as in the management structure of the business to help me broaden my horizons and my skill set.”