Illinois engineering student wins U.S. competition for prestigious Infiniti internship

Growing up in Crystal Lake, Ill., soccer quenched the competitive juices for Alex Allmandinger. But Allmandinger also had a thing for cars. His involvement in Illini Motorsports the past three years has fueled both and at the same time readied him to reach the pinnacle of his profession, which for auto racing is Formula One.

Later this month, the senior in mechanical science and engineering at the University of Illinois embarks on a dream 12-month internship with the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy (IPEA), the first nine months of which will be with the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Formula One Team, which claimed four straight world championships from 2010-13, the later three months spent with Infiniti Motor Company on road car development

Allmandinger is one of five engineering students from around the world to earn this opportunity, which includes recipients from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Europe, and China. The United States competition started in March with over 1,200 students registering for the opportunity and concluded in Nashville late July with 12 finalists competing for one spot.

While competing with Illini Motorsports’ Formula SAE competitions, Allmandinger crossed paths with two of last year’s recipients who talked about their experiences and encouraged Allmandinger to apply. From the initial applicant pool, organizers shortlisted around 25 for a Skype interview, later requesting a short elevator pitch as to their background in engineering. After a detailed review by Infiniti and Infiniti Red Bull Racing, candidates were then whittled to 12 finalists.  

Through a series of team-building and individual challenges, the 12 finalists had a chance to demonstrate their talents to the judges. They first had to develop a building plan for a fictional company taking into account budget and engineering. The competition also included a pipeline activity where participants collectively designed a method to move water from one side of the room to another using PVC pipes.

“One of the more interesting parts of the competition was that we all had to work together on these projects, but we knew we were competing against each other,” Allmandinger said.

 

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To be selected as an Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy graduate we were looking for a competent engineer who could also demonstrate their ability to work in a team, apply their engineering knowledge to solve intrinsic problems and to demonstrate that they could remain focused under pressure,” said Jerry Hardcastle, General Manager for Global Quality at Infiniti Motor Company and the lead judge at the U.S. final. “These are all competencies that are required to work at Infiniti Motor Company and Infiniti Red Bull Racing. Alex demonstrated his capability throughout the series of challenges and was able to triumph in possibly the toughest final of the global series.”

Following nine months at Infiniti Red Bull racing, working primarily in vehicle design, suspension and driver controls, Allmandinger will spend three months with Infiniti Motor Company on road car projects relating to Infiniti’s Q30 Compact model.  

“It will be a unique opportunity to pick up a lot on the Formula One side and see the crossover in bringing new technologies into road cars,” Allmandinger said.

For Allmandinger, the opportunity is the culmination of many experiences through his three years as a student at Illinois.

“The engineering program at Illinois has been fantastic,” Allmandinger said. “The biggest advantage is the corporate network that they have.”

As a result of connections through one of the College of Engineering’s career fairs, Allmandinger landed an internship at Caterpillar following his freshman year, an experience that he says served as a launching point for him as an engineer. He followed that up with internships at Chrysler and Ford, where got a look at the inner workings of the automobile industry.

“Without these three internships, I wouldn’t be where I am right now with Infiniti,” he said.

In addition, he has risen through the ranks of Illini Motorsports. With Allmandinger as aerodynamic subsystem leader, the team placed third this summer at the Formula SAE competition in Lincoln, Neb., against competitors from across the world.

“I think my passion really grew when I joined the Illini Motorsports team as a freshman,” Allmandinger recalled. “I saw how challenging and exciting it is to be an engineer in that sport. I saw how you could have that same competitive nature in motorsports that you find in other more traditional sports.”

He credits Illini Motorsports for helping transform the concepts he was learning in class into concrete applications -- from working with heat transfer, computational fluid dynamics, engine calibrations, drive trains and suspension to his specialty of aerodynamics.

“It has helped me see how all these things come together in a system,” Allmandinger said of the technical skills he’s developed as part of the program. “A lot of the stuff we get to do in Formula SAE is close to cutting edge as compared to some of the other racing series. For instance, some teams use monocoque carbon fiber chassis and intense aerodynamic simulations, vehicle setups and vehicle dynamics.”

He adds that unlike many of the top racing series, which have a strict set of rules when it comes to front-wing package and chassis, SAE is much more liberal when it comes to these key aerodynamic elements.

“If you go to an SAE competition you see 120 different front wings, 120 different rear wings, and 120 different setups because each team has an opportunity to do what they think is the best.”

At the beginning of August, Allmandinger was prepared to lead Illini Motorsports and begin his final undergraduate year at Illinois. Instead, he is embarking on his first trip to Europe on Sept 28 before starting a once-in-lifetime opportunity with the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy. He will finish his degree the following school year before ultimately preparing for a career at a high-level of motorsports.

“I’m looking for a career where every day I am faced with an engineering challenge and need to find a solution,” Allmandinger said. “This is a huge opportunity to go into a really challenging environment and see how well I can do and if I’m cut out for working in this industry long term, which is my ultimate goal. At the same time, I am proud to continue to highlight just how strong of an engineering program we have at Illinois.”