Daniel Bird, a motorsport engineering student at the University of Wolverhampton, has been praised for his exhaust design for a Pagani Huayra supercar.
Wolverhampton’s School of Engineering was approached to design and manufacture a bespoke exhaust trim for the car, which will be driven to Europe to take part in an exhibition. Working with commercial client Torus Technology Group, Daniel used Computer Aided Design (CAD) and prototype models to create a final product made from titanium. The work was carried out at the university’s Telford Innovation Campus.
“The design takes advantage of the Direct Metal Laser Sintering process that operates at the Telford Innovation Campus, to permit very complex and unique designs that cannot be manufactured using more conventional methods,” said Paul Bates, technical & business resource manager at the Innovation Campus.
“Daniel worked closely with the client on the project outside of his academic and motorsport activities, gaining some valuable live work experience, to create the final product, which was commended by Horacio Pagani, the founder of Italian speciality auto-maker, Pagani Automobili.”
With a top speed of around 238mph and 0-60mph acceleration of 2.8 seconds, the Huayara is in the upper echelons of modern supercars, and was named Top Gear’s Hypercar of the Year upon its release in 2012. Having received praise from Pagani’s founder for the bespoke exhaust, 26-year-old Daniel is now working on a second design, this time for a Pagani Zonda.
“Getting the chance to work with Torus Technology Group on a sports car produced by Pagani, one of the greatest Italian sports car manufacturers in the world, was an amazing opportunity,” said Daniel, who originally hails from Staffordshire.
“Thanks to the skills and techniques I obtained through my studies and motorsport activities, I was able to interpret the client’s ideas into a design best suited for the Huayra’s unique style. Then to receive the word that Horacio Pagani commended my work was truly something special to me.”
I wonder if others recall that wonderful scene in the ‘public-school film’- “Dead Poets Society” where a student who has not done a piece of homework (compose a poem) is forced by Robin Williams, his teacher to do such ‘on-the spot’. He creates and innovates and extends his outstanding offering …such that when he has finished there is complete silence until his class mates burst into applause. Robin Williams tells him “Don’t you forget this moment!”
Daniel Bird: “Don’t you forget this moment either!”
I had the privilege of a not dissimilar episode: in one of my classes some 20 years ago I had a student from Angola. I was aware (as was the department) that in his background there was a frightening episode: involving him being abducted during the civil war in that unhappy country and forced to be a child soldier. He was shy and extremely reticent to speak in what was not his mother tongue (English!), let alone stand up and give a short presentation (as the ‘regs required!)
Via a series of ‘slights-of hand’ involving the rest of the class (who allowed him to sit at the front, then at the podium, then to change the slides, then to read out the bullet points ) we engineered a situation (via a deliberate mistake on one slide) that he interrupted to correct this: then realised that he was standing at the front, talking effectively to his class-mates. The look of delight on his face was bettered only by the heart-felt applause from 40+ students!
I did say to him”Now, don’t you forget this!” After that we could not stop him talking!