Williams F1

At the age of 10, Ed Wood started preparing motorbikes with his father, who was a member of the Royal Signals White Helmets. By the time he was 14, he was doing his own restoration work and running a dirt bike.

In 1986, at the age of 18, he became a mechanic in World Superbikes and MotoGP, before moving to TWR’s Jaguar Group C programme for 1990. In September of the same year, Ed went to Manchester University to study Mechanical Engineering and graduated with a first class honours degree three years later.

Ed then went on to complete a doctorate in Engineering Science at Oxford University. In 1996 he worked concurrently at the university as a lecturer in thermodynamics and as Senior Engineer at Rolls Royce Technology Centre for Heat Transfer and Aerodynamics.

In late 1997 Ed landed his first job in F1, courtesy of Ferrari. He spent three years working for the Maranello-based squad as an R&D engineer and then two years at Renault F1 as senior development engineer. He then switched to the World Rally Championship, where he worked as Chief Designer on Prodrive’s programme with Subaru.

He stayed at Prodrive until March 2006, when he took on the position of Chief Designer for Williams F1.

•    Nationality: British
•    Born: 1st March 1968
•    Job description: Chief Designer

Career Highlights
2006         Chief Designer, Williams F1
2003         Chief Designer, Prodrive
2002         Senior Development Engineer, Renault F1   
2001         Head of Engineering, Mitsubishi Ralliart
1998         Research and Development Engineer, Ferrari F1       
1996-98   Lecturer thermodynamics at Oxford University
                  Senior Engineer, Rolls Royce plc
1996         Completed a Doctorate at University of Oxford in Engineering Science
1993         Graduated from University of Manchester, 1st class honours in Mechanical Engineering
1988-90   Mechanic, Group C and Le Mans
1986-88   Mechanic, Moto GP, World Superbike