Studying towards a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Mechanical Engineering
Motorsport has been a significant part of Jack's life — from the time he spent with his Dad putting together race cars in their garage, to racing in the South Island Formula Ford series in 2019 and later in the National Formula Ford Series.
Before racing cars, Jack was grass karting from age 11, then sprint karting, and has secured 6 national karting titles over the years.
When it came to studying, he knew UC was the right place for him when he found that it had a "reputation of a fantastic engineering programme that also has one of the most competitive Formula SAE teams in the world".
Studying Mechanical Engineering gave Jack the opportunity to not only keep his passion for racing going, but to better understand how things work.
"My study involves learning about the physical and theoretical properties of the mechanical world, from dynamics and analysis to design and communication. I get to learn about a novel concept one day in a lecture and then the next be able to see it with my own eyes in action," he says.
Having an innate curiosity about the how's and why's keeps Jack motivated in his studies.
"The degree takes a lot of time and commitment to work through. If you can find your passion, whatever it may be, and use it to drive you, you'll never have any troubles," he advises.
While the degree is intensive, Jack isn't all work and no play.
"I get to spend a lot of my time hanging around the Engineering core with my mates studying and learning the material," he says.
There are over 160 clubs on campus, which he feels is a great way to connect with like-minded people.
"Being able to interact with so many other students really makes studying at UC great. I'm involved in UCM (University of Canterbury Motorsport) and Motosoc. Motosoc is a friendly group of people who share a common interest. UCM is more for the serious racing engineers, it's a full on engineering project where every year we complete a race car and take it to Australia to race."
While Jack would like to be a professional race car driver, he's also got other plans for his degree.
"The next best option is to be the one behind that race car. I would love to be a Motorsport Engineer, preferably in the area of aerodynamics as it's always been a side passion of mine," he says.
