Introduction
I have a confession to make. I love my job because #IWorkForGM. General Motors (GM) has been the best company I have ever worked for. I hope it is the last company I work for.
About a decade ago, I wrote an article about Mary Barra that has proven prescient. Her leadership is one of the reasons I love this company. Another reason is that GM is a true enterprise. This means that you can change your career path within the company by working in various divisions.
Over three years ago, I joined the GM Performance Motor Sports organization in Concord, NC. I believed my work would consist of advanced analytics and data visualization. What I didn’t expect was how much pure computational science, programming, and software development I would be completing. I feel as though I have been burning silicon, rather than rubber, for the past three years.
What Tasks Do I Work On?
What I actually ended up working on in the performance engineering group, however, is primarily computational science. I create computer code that helps our racing teams win more races. I try to help drivers become better at their sport. I try to help us understand our race cars’ performance during races. I delve into the mountains of data to find ways to improve them.
These enormous volumes of data tell interesting stories. You can uncover these stories if you are adept at finding the subtleties. These subtleties exist at the edge of maximum performance or total calamity. Alteryx, Python, PySpark, Databricks, Tableau, and other big-data technologies are my tools. They allow me to uncover the performance advantages that live within the data.
Trillions of calculations later, I have now found myself working on an exciting new adventure. I am now working with the new Cadillac F1 (CF1) team! This work complements my NASCAR software and extends my work into the simulation domain of motorsports. I spent many years of my career performing simulations, which brings me back to my roots.
The Purpose of This Article
I want to appreciate the accomplishments of joining the F1 grid. To do that, I decided to write an article. This will make it easy for me to find information when I need it. I am a big fan (and student) of motorsports and spend a lot of time researching various topics. This article should help me quickly review items when needed.
In the upcoming sections of this article, GM-produced YouTube videos are included. These videos take us through the stories of assembling this new Formula 1 (F1) team. Since this journey is ongoing, with new videos released about every month, this article will be updated periodically.
Episode 1 – No American Company Has Ever Built an F1 Car From Scratch
Episode 2 – The Simulations
Episode 3 – The Simulation Driver
Episode 4 – Silverstone
Episode 5 – Making Parts
Episode 6 – We Finally Have an F1 Car!
Episode 7 – Pirelli Tires, Milan, Italy, and Smart Engineers
Upcoming
This article will continue to expand as long as this series of videos continues. I also plan to discuss in general terms some of the work I am doing for the CF1 team. Of course, don’t expect to see performance results or specific insights.
Still, I think you will be interested in learning about some of the amazing data that these incredible machines produce. You will find it fascinating how we use advanced computer and mathematical techniques to process the information. If you have ever wondered why you took so many math classes, this series might help show the value of those classes.
