Meet NMA's Maths Master... Roger Grimshaw
How did your career path lead you to where you are today?
I started as an Industrial Chemist with a specialty in oil bearing rocks. However business called and I have been fortunate enough to have built and sold a number of businesses in my career – insurance brokers, online motorsport advertising, Subway franchises and ATM’s being some; there are more.
What is your area of expertise? How do you bring your experience and expertise to the NMA?
At a high level; making a complex subject more simple to understand. At a granular level; logistics, planning and mathematical subjects.
What inspired you to pursue a career in motorsport?
The first motor race in 1986 as described below
What would you say has been the highlight of your professional journey to date?
In business, selling the ATM company and never having to work again if I don’t want to. In academia; seeing students being motivated by something I have done or said and it lifts them to do better or more.
When did you join the National Motorsport Academy?
I joined Kieran at the formation of the NMA in 2015 and saw the first student to sign up.
Tell us about the modules you cover—and what students can expect to learn?
I teach a range of modules across the BSc (Hons) Motorsport Engineering & MSc Advanced Motorsport Engineering programmes
Module 1: Mathematics for Motorsport
Module 8: Work Experience
MSc Advanced Motorsport Engineering:
Module 1: Research Methods
Module 4: Engineering Management Practices
In terms of what a student will learn,
At the undergraduate level my first module is a “wake up to learning again” module. The maths is reasonably simple, should have done most of it before, type maths.
It is 100% relevant to the course as it is mechanics rather than pure maths and it is divided into 10 distinct areas with a little knowledge test at the end. It is formatted in this way so that someone who has been in the workplace and out of academia for a while can be eased back in without the first chunky assignment landing the day they start!
The Work Experience module is all about the student and focuses on their ability to express themselves…about themselves. Reflection on their techniques, their understanding and their growth as a student and a person via their workplace.
The Masters programme raises the bar quite considerably and the first module, Research Methods, aims to show the new student that they must step up a gear (notice the motorsport analogy there?) from the undergraduate level.
Engineering Management Practices is a Masters module that brings together such subjects as team logistics, team motivation, team legalities and then asks the student to deliver a team plan for a prestigious racing event.
What do you enjoy most about supporting NMA students on their journey?
I really enjoy that each and every student is motivated to succeed. Getting and keeping a motorsport position takes dedication and motivation. It take passion. All of this is brought by the student as they enter our programme.
What’s one thing every student can count on when they take your module?
That having been bored stupid by some of my University lecturers in the past, I have vowed not to do the same to my students.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not teaching or working in motorsport?
Since I cannot hold a race licence after the event in [4], I shoot competitively. Clay pigeon shooting in the UK and around Europe
What’s the first motorsport moment you remember that really stuck with you?
In 1986 I went to Silverstone for a Group C Sportscar 1000km race. It was a one off that had been suggested by a friend for a birthday. The noise, the speed, the colours and the smell were all intoxicating and like nothing I had ever experienced before. The fact that my chosen car, the No 51 Jaguar XJR6 of Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever, won the race was a fairy tale.
What’s the best moment motorsport has given you?
There are many “bests”, but the best of the best is; being in the car for the last stint before the flag and driving the wheels off of our giant killing little BMW at the Vallelunga Gold Cup. Passing cars where it should not have been possible, climbing the leader board, getting the car all out of shape but keeping my racing boot firmly stuck in and finally bringing the car home to a podium third when just hours earlier it was up to its axles in gravel after an off because I was being a muppet.
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?
I have been dead. A road accident put me through a lorry windscreen and I suffered a penetrating brain injury. I died and only the skill and dedication of the paramedics brought me back.
Who is your motorsport hero or biggest influence?
Mike Wilds. A quiet unassuming ex F1 driver who is now in his 70’s and when on track, drives everything with such skill and economy of movement you can barely believe that he is working at all. He also likes a beer.
