Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy

The Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy is a new initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of engineering talent by providing 10 young people with unique mentorship, e-learning and hands-on experiences. The program, a partnership between Komatsu and Atlassian Williams Racing, aims to create pathways to careers in STEM fields, particularly within the engineering industries.

Matthew Tosolini can still picture the young man from Qatar holding his head in his hands in disbelief. And the young woman from Saudi Arabia whose shriek of delight might have been the highest-volume moment in a room full of thousands. 
They were two of the 10 young people who had just been accepted into the first-ever Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy.

As the person who heads up mentoring and technical training programs for Komatsu Australia, Tosolini has been around plenty of young people launching their careers. But he wasn’t fully prepared for the impact of that moment. “To see that reaction was pretty phenomenal and pretty hard to describe,” he said.

The Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy is the latest example of a  partnership that puts a high premium on developing and recruiting the next generation of talent. Though their businesses are different, their shared values make them natural partners for this new venture.

“Our companies are not the same kind of build mechanics, but similar industries in terms of the kind of talent we'd like to attract,” said James Southerland who, as Head of Partnerships at Atlassian Williams Racing, works closely with Komatsu “One of the big KPIs for Komatsu is recruitment. Same thing with us. Obviously, we want to attract the brightest and best.”
The Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy was launched with exactly that in mind.

The 10 young people chosen for the first academy class will receive mentoring, participate in e-learning activities, and have access to two world-class teams of engineering talent over a four-year period or more. If they choose, they’ll have an inside track to internships and jobs at Komatsu and Atlassian Williams Racing.

The inaugural academy class is comprised of students worldwide who participate in a program called F1 in Schools (recently renamed STEM Racing), which uses Formula 1 racing to build excitement around STEM learning. Each year, students compete in regional and national qualification rounds, with the top winners competing in the F1 in Schools World Finals.

To launch the Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy, organizers tapped the talent pool competing in the 2024 finals by inviting them to apply. Thirty-five applicants were selected to attend an assessment event coinciding with the world finals, held Nov. 22-26 in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Tosolini helped design the assessment process. As the person who oversees Komatsu Australia’s schoolbased work experience programs and an award winning apprentice development program, he was wellsuited to the task. “I was asked to apply a bit of what we'd used as our winning formula for trades-based knowledge and assessment,” Tosolini said. Working in close collaboration with the Atlassian Williams Racing team in charge of the initiative, “we went to work over many months designing an assessment center,” he said, referring to the event in Dhahran that put academy finalists through their paces. In addition to a written exam, Tosolini recommended a group challenge: Build a safety feature forFormula 1 using household goods.“

 

“We had done a supermarket haul of things like tea towels, sticky tape, bubble wrap and lots of random things,” said Anna Birks, Early Career Development Lead at Atlassian Williams Racing. “They had to come up with a safety feature which could be on the car, on the driver, on the track. It was very open.”The finalists broke into small groups and had 45 minutes to come up with solutions, which they then presented to a panel of four assessors.

The exercise required young people from many backgrounds and who barely knew each other to collaborate and problem-solve. “It was just amazing to see how much they supported each other and cheered for each other throughout,” said Birks.

The 10 winners range in age from 16 to 20 and come from Abu Dhabi, the United States, Australia, Wales, Greece, Spain, India, Qatar, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.

Back at their homes, academy members will interact with Komatsu and Atlassian Williams Racing in a variety of ways, beginning with remote learning and mentoring. Self-guided e-learning modules are tailored to each student’s age and will drill down into the specifics of Formula 1 engineering. Tosolini is working with the Atlassian Williams Racing Team on ways to add Komatsu content and activities.

“We want to expose them to the Komatsu engineering process,” said Tosolini. 
“We’re working on ideas about engaging our global network and our distributor network, for instance.” With a global cohort of students who have a variety of interests and skills, Komatsu’s broad range of global opportunities and resources will be an asset.

The scope will grow each year as new classes enter the academy. Each will be on a four-year trajectory of learning, mentoring and networking, with the academy supporting each student in their unique education journey — and beyond. 

When participants reach the appropriate stage, both companies can make available internships, apprenticeships and other opportunities. Tosolini and Southerland see the potential to continue relationships for many years, supporting alumni as they pursue career paths at Komatsu, Atlassian Williams Racing, graduate school or somewhere else.

“Obviously, the end goal is for them to find a path to a job at Atlassian Williams Racing or Komatsu,” said Southerland. “But it could be elsewhere. I think if we can provide the skills and the confidence required for these individuals to achievetheir goals and dreams, then that's a win.”

Birks added, “Just to gain exposure and experience in STEM and engineering and know that it can lead to a future career can be quite life-changing for some individuals.”

The academy formally announced its inaugural class at the 2025 Autosport Awards, a glitzy event in London that spotlighted the academy’s first class of promising young talent as well as its ambitions. Before the 10 names were announced to the awards audience, Atlassian Williams Racing Team Principal James Vowles described his passion for the project. “I'm a great believer that if you invest in future generations, you'll be rewarded tenfold, and I've never been disappointed with that in my career.”

While programs that mentor young racers exist in Formula 1, there’s nothing quite like this effort to attract, encourage and cultivate young engineering talent. "People are invested, people are watching this,” said Southerland .

Tosolini agreed that expectations are high. “Williams is looking to develop an engineering cohort that may end up being their next race engineers, and Komatsu is looking to develop our next potential design engineers or structural engineers.”

The massive popularity of Formula 1 and the excitement surrounding it can only elevate Komatsu’s recruitment efforts, said Tosolini. The chance to have an impact on someone’s future is equally exciting. He thinks about the young competitors he met who might never have dreamed of a chance to work with Komatsu or a Formula 1 team, much less a possible career with one. “We’ve enabled that,” he said, “And that's pretty phenomenal.”

In collaboration with F1 in Schools, Komatsu and Williams Racing this week chose the first 10 students who will comprise the inaugural class of the Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy. 

The Academy is a global initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of engineering talent through unique learning opportunities the students will have access to with Komatsu and the Williams Racing Formula 1 team. Programming will kick off in January and be tailored to meet the needs of each student’s educational journey. 

The students chosen were attendees of the 2024 Aramco F1 in Schools World Championships, which took place this week (November 22-26) in Saudia Arabia. More than 450 students on 55 teams participated in this year’s world championship, racing miniature air-powered F1-style cars. Participants then got the chance to travel to Doha for the F1 Qatar Grand Prix to take part in a pit lane walk at the famous Lusail International Circuit. 

The announcement of this year’s class of Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy students comes 10 years after the very first academy was launched at the F1 in Schools World Finals in Abu Dhabi in 2014. For Komatsu and Williams, it’s an exciting opportunity to help shape a new generation of talent for their respective industries. 

“The talent on display this week in Saudia Arabia was incredible and we are so excited to start working with the selected students come January,” said Todd Connolly, VP of Global Brand Transformation at Komatsu. “Supporting up-and-coming STEM talent is not only rewarding, but essential as we look to nurture future innovation and advance the fields of motorsport and heavy-equipment design.”

For James Vowles, Team Principal at Williams Racing, working with young talent as they work toward graduation and a future career puts him right back where he was 30 years ago, when he entered Formula 1 shortly after graduation. 
“These exceptional young engineers can help lead our industries into the future, and I consider it my privilege to get to help support them at this critical stage in their educational journey,” Vowles said.


Students selected for the program are as follows: 

Raphael Brice (Abu Dhabi)
Aran Malhotra (USA)
Finley Sneddon (Australia)
Catrin Wood (Wales)
George Papadopoulus (Greece)
Julia Used-Alonso Wu (Spain)
Angad Miglani (India)
Prabhav Srivastava (Qatar)
Zac Smith (United Kingdom)
Noor Alsagheir (Saudi Arabia)

Stay tuned for more details in the months to come!

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