Faces of Ford: Dr. Neil Lewington

Long before he started thinking about the shape of air as it rushes across a surface, Dr. Neil Lewington wanted to be a rock star.

“I played bass from about 14-years old,” said Neil, who’s IMG’s Global Advanced Aerodynamic Architecture Lead.  “My older brother knew of a couple of bands and they were all well into their late 20s, and I ended up playing with a few of them. But I quickly realised I wasn’t going to be in the next Mötley Crüe, and that I should probably have a backup plan.”

That backup plan was aerodynamics. After achieving “better than expected results in maths and science,” a schoolteacher suggested he should give aerodynamics a go. Eventually, via a winding road, this led Neil away from the UK to Ford Australia and into a role that he loves.

“My role is two-hatted, in that I have responsibility to deliver the aerodynamics performance of both our vehicle programmes as aerodynamics supervisor, and furthering the company’s aerodynamic capabilities,” Neil said.

“The programme activity means that with my team, I’m able to influence the very latest vehicle designs, while the technical specialist activity allows me to influence global processes and explore the latest analytical and testing innovations.”

But he might never have ended up in the automotive space had it not been for two of his university mates who were both working at McLaren Racing. Because besides music, Neil had always been interested in aircraft, which was what led him to study aerodynamics at City, University of London.

“I started on a final-year project around flow control using air jet vortex generators, not solid vane ones. I really got into that project and ended up winning an award for the work I did.”

This led to a recommendation that he complete his PhD, which took the flow control work he’d done with air jet vortex generators and turned it into flow control for three-element high-lift wing for an Airbus A320.

With his PhD completed, framed, and hanging on the wall, Neil stepped away from the academic world and joined an engine cooling business. “I was doing a lot of CFD work, a lot of development work and then I got a call from my two mates who were both at McLaren Racing and asked me to come and work with them.”

He was immediately hooked on the fast-paced development after moving to McLaren in 2002 and it wasn't long before he found his niche.

“We’d had a big problem with brakes (at McLaren Racing), especially when racing at Monza and in Canada; both are huge braking circuits, and we were exploding rear discs. A few of us got together and built a brake rig, as well as a numerical model of the front corner of the car to conduct detailed assessments of the airflow through the brake system.”

Having helped solve McLaren’s exploding brake disc mystery, Neil soon found himself working on other complex projects. “I stayed with McLaren for the best part of five years and got to do all sorts of interesting stuff,” he said.

But it was the birth of his daughter that saw him away from Formula One, leave the UK and travel to the other side of the world to work for Ford Australia in 2007.

“That was more than 17 years ago now, and it was absolutely the right move for me and my family. Australia’s a great place and Ford’s a great place to work and receptive to new ways of doing things.”

After more than 25 years as an aerodynamicist solving problems, Neil still gets the same buzz out of his job as he did when he started. But what does he think the role of an aerodynamicist will look like in the next 20 years?

"Aerodynamics has always been a key factor in vehicle design when trying to reduce emissions and minimise fuel consumption,” he said. “But the transition to electric and multi-energy powertrains, if anything, increases the importance of aerodynamics since vehicle range and battery size are critical to the total vehicle energy consumption.”