Reportage: Mike Turner(JCB Head of industrial design)

Furkan Bilal Iyin-Mike Turner(JCB Head of industrial design)
Ototrend Mag. 2008
F: Hi Mike,
M: Hi Furkan – great to catch up with you again - I hope life is treating you well.

After JCB Dieselmax project which was very important, this time you are working on Bloodhound SSC project. You seem to have big jobs on these days! Could you please tell us about the recent developments in your career?

Well, it’s been a very busy couple of years since JCB Dieselmax. As you remember, at that stage I was working as Senior Designer at JCB, and stayed there until the end of 2007. During this time we brought the new generation of JCB Fastrac’s into prduction, which have proven to be a big sucess for the company. In addition, there were a number of really exciting projects passing through the company which are now beginning to reach the public domain.

I was really happy with the way Industrial Design at JCB had developed over the five and a half years I was there, but increasingly felt that I needed to set myself a new challenge and take a new career direction. On the 7th November last year I set up my own company, Mike Turner Design Limited; a freelance ALIAS-based design consultancy supporting Industrial Design projects worldwide.

My first major client was a superb opportunity - I was asked to support VW’s Design Centre in Potsdam working as an ALIAS concept definition modeller for 6 months.

What were the most interesting experiences for you while working at VW?

Wow – difficult to summarise! The place is really special, because it’s full of incredibly talented professionals (designers, model-makers, clay modellers, digital modellers, visualisers and project managers) who are all hell-bent on developing the most amazing designs to the very best of their abilities.

It was an incredibly rewarding experience to be invited to support such focussed and disciplined specialists, and to be able to add my own skills to the mix. I honestly feel as though I’ve gone through something of a transformation as a result of being there and being exposed to the very best in the Industry who are working at the cutting edge on a daily basis.

The underlying feeling I’ve taken away from my time at VW is one of reassurance and confirmation. The design practices and values I’ve instinctively adopted and held dear throughout my career are no different to VW’s - there are no secret workflows or short-cuts: the only way you get world class design is by putting in massive amounts of effort to resolve every last detail thoroughly.

As for the projects I worked on whilst I was there – well, they were pretty special too. Unfortunately, I can’t say a great deal about them at the moment as they are still secret - maybe one day. . .

So how did you get involved with Bloodhound SSC?

Good question! - I wish I could have stayed with VW for much longer, but I really needed to come back to the UK to spend some proper time with my family - my Daughter started school earlier this year, and being home rather than away in Germany was vital. I was lucky enough to get a call during the summer break from John Piper (who was Chief Designer on the Dieselmax project) who said he might have “another interesting job” coming up. . . He invited me down to Bristol, where I was first introduced to the Bloodhound Project.

In all honesty, being given another opportunity to tackle a landspeed record car (and to work with the same great team behind Dieselmax) was appealing; but knowing I’d be able to work from home rather than living away from my family for another 6 months was the most decisive factor.

What is your personal view of this magnificient project?

Well, the ethos of the project is totally unique: on one level it’s about smashing the land speed record – but more fundamentally it’s about educating, promoting and expanding the number of young kids wanting to go into engineering careers in the future.

There’s a growing realisation in our country that many of the major problems we will face in society in the next 20-50 years (population expansion, climate change, pollution, dwindling oil reserves etc.) will need a massive influx of new engineering talent tackle the issues and find practical solutions.

Bloodhound is being run to get young kids excited and actively involved in engineering NOW, so that as they grow up they’ll be more motivated to become Engineers than perhaps go into a career in finance, for example.

So for me it’s a really interesting project which appeals as both an outright design challenge, but more importantly as a potential trigger for much needed changes in society and education; so that hopefully we’ll all have an exciting and sustainable future to look forward to.

What is your role on this project?

I’m currently working to design the exterior bodywork and underbody aerodynamics. This work is being done in much the same way as it was on Dieselmax: CAD surfaces which are then analysed using state-of-the-art CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software to simulate and predict airflow over the car.

As you can imagine, the incredible speeds envisaged for the car means that everything has to be absolutely perfect in terms of the bodyshell shape; so it’s a product of many, many iterations – with a lot of very important input from Aerodynamicists and vehicle engineers.

It is indicated that Turkey is on the list of the record test areas? What do you think about the probabilty of Turkey to be the record test area? Is there any invitation from Turkey to you on this subject? Could you please give us a hint on these test area subject.

In all honesty, I really don’t know where Bloodhound will end up making it’s series of record attempts: it all depends on the quality and size of the track available. We need a LOT of very smooth, very flat wide open space in which to run the car effectively, and these kinds of spaces vary annualy depending on weather conditions. At the moment there are a number of possible sites available to us, but we can’t make any kind of go/no go decision until we’ve had chance to assess each option thoroughly.

What are the other expected results of Bloodhound SSC project record rest? If the project succeeds, what will be the advantages on which areas?

In simple terms, we’re chasing the outright Landspeed record – which currently stands at 763 mph (Set by Thrust SSC in 1997) Our target is 1,000mph. However, we’ll measure project “success” not in terms of our outright speed, but in the amount of educational interest which is generated. . and the envisaged increase of kids wanting to take science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at school and go on into higher education.

What was the biggest challenge on this project?

Well, the project is still very much ongoing and we’re facing new design and engineering challenges daily. At this stage we’re still proving out the design – the real fun starts when we get into the build and test phases!

Perhaps the biggest challenge which projects of this type face is funding: we are entirely dependant on sponsorship and public support to fund the development, build and running of the car. As such, if anyone out there is interested in the project and keen to get involved then PLEASE go to our website www.bloodhoundssc.com and give us your support - Thankyou!

Will you be working on any more suprise projects in near future?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you – so many of the projects I get involved in are kept secret until they are ready. However, now that I’m working as a freelancer with my own company, it gives me enormous flexibility to take on board new challenges and move around the Industry. Industrial Design for me is a passion and a way of life, so I’m always looking for new opportunities and new clients who want a proven, cost-effective Industrial Design resource.

Although projects like Bloodhound SSC are very exciting and memorable, for me there’s just as much satisfaction in sucessfully tackling a train interior project, a new mobile phone, perhaps a range of cutlery or even kids toys.

As more of my “surprise projects” make their way out into the public sector, I always try to showcase them in my online portfolio – so if you want to stay in touch with what I’ve been up to or perhaps contact me directly, then please feel free to use the following link:

http://www.coroflot.com/​miketurner

Good to talk with you again Furkan – and all the best to your readers. Keep up the great work!

Mike