Faculties and Associates

Faculties and Associates

Richard Atkins
Project Supervisor
Richard is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sussex and he has supervised every Formula student car that the Sussex students have produced. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). He is very active within the IMechE where he is a Regional Education Officer and he sits on numerous IMechE committees including: - Academic Accreditation; Regional Committee; immediate past chair of the Automobile Division Southern Centre and is a regular Formula student Judge. Prior to joining the academic team at the University of Sussex, Richard held Senior positions in a number of prestigious companies including; Coventry Climax ( F1 Engines) Jaguar; Tecalemit; Weslake; Ricardo Consulting Engineers and the British Internal Combustion Engine Research Associates. Within his consulting company Richard has worked with Auto Delta (Alfa Romeo Racing) Lamborghini; Fiat Abarth; Peugeot Competitions; Ford Competitions and Ford Europe R & D; Jaguar Land rover; MIRA; JCB; Lister Petter; Peugeot and Renault competitions departments. He also undertakes consultancy work with leading companies worldwide including companies based in:- Poland; Israel; India; France; Denmark; Iran; China; Germany and the USA Richard has an overriding passion to promote the joy of engineering to young people and in addition to his work as a STEM ambassador he utilises his position as guest speaker on cruise liners to further spread the message.
Gerry Hulford
Team Consultant
Gerry left school in 1967 and took a job with the well-known Thompson & Taylor garage in Chobham, Surrey as an Apprentice Mechanic, which he held for the following 6 months before moving to the insurance and pension provider Legal & General in 1968 as a Computer Operator on their main-frame computer systems, which he held for the next 14 years. Working 12-hour shifts gave Gerry the opportunity to indulge in his early days of motorsport, racing an 850cc Mini in various Championships in the 1970’s. Gerry stayed with Legal & General for 27 years, holding various management positions in within the Computer department before finally being their Principal Computer Consultant responsible for major IT infrastructure projects across the UK. Leaving Legal & General in 1995, Gerry joined CMG (UK), a major Anglo/Dutch IT Consultancy as a Project Director. This position lead to him working with major International clients in a variety of roles both as Project Director of major change programmes as well as Interim Management at both senior Director and Board level, with companies such as KLM Airlines, UK Customs & Excise, UK Dept of Trade & Industry, Lloyds Bank, ING Bank, Sony Corporation, Saga Group, National Trust, World Directories Inc, Truvo Group, Cleary & Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. In 2005 Gerry formed what was to be a very successful company, Ecosse Associates, providing business and management consultancy services to major corporate companies. Throughout this period Gerry has maintained his passion for motorsport, racing a number of cars in National & Historic championships with success. Gerry’s engineering skills have enabled him to both prepare his cars but also build all his race engines over the years. In 2004 he ran his youngest son Miles, in the Formula Jedi single-seater Championship followed by a few years in the British GT Championship in both Ferrari & Porsche cars with considerable success. Gerry both prepared some of the cars and was Team Manager in various events and 24hr races. In 2015 Gerry also raced with his son Miles in their Wolf GB08 CN Prototype in both National & International championships. For a number of years now Gerry has been assisting the University of Sussex Formula Student Team and is currently working with the 2018 Team on their latest project.