Key Engineers in the industry

A number of key engineers or enterpreneurs have contributed to making Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Dynamics what it is today.

Maurice Olley: the "creator" and godfather of vehicle dynamics

Nicola Materazzi: the creator of the 'technical supercar' (Ferrari 288 GTO, Ferrari F40, EB110, B.Engineering Edonis)

Carroll Shelby: driver, team manager, manufacturer, animal farmer, chilli conoisseur, Africa traveller

Gordon Murray: contributed to cars such as Brabham, McLaren F1 and the racing cars, Light Car Company Rocket

Lee Noble: in his own words Lee is a mechanic without a degree, but nonetheless the creator of exciting cars such as Ascari Ecosse, Ultima and M12. Nobody can argue against these facts.

Christian Koenigsegg

"Was I schooled in engineering?" Christian von Koenigsegg asks as he merrily ticks off the list of his disadvantages. "No. Did I have a manufacturing background? No. Did I have access to unlimited funds or a factory that could turn out my designs? No. What I had was a friend with a garage and a passion for cars. Basically, I had no choice but to build what I thought was the best car I could make by hand."

For a company that makes cars capable of reaching 270mph, its early years were excruciatingly slow. In 1994 von Koenigsegg used $200,000 of his own as seed money. The next year his father, an industrial-heating-tech executive, loaned him another $300,000. "My father didn't know it then, but he would over the next few years invest his life savings, or about $2 million," says von Koenigsegg. "Naturally my mother freaked out."

Then in 1999, after the first wave of Swedish tech and telecom entrepreneurs had begun to rake in their millions, von Koenigsegg put together a group of 20 investors who injected another $2 million. He also gave shares of the company to some suppliers. And that finally got the first Koenigsegg, the CC8S, off the production line--in 2003. (Since then Koenigsegg has engineered other long-term investment rounds, totaling about $25 million.)

Reja Jazar: Professor at RMIT (Australia), author of "Vehicle Dynamics Theory and Application

Jazar publications RMIT

Marco Fainello: head of dynamics and vehicle simulator at Ferrari in the early' 2000s. Now runs his own ice-cream shop.

Danny Nowlan: creator and owner of ChassisSim

Gianpaolo Dallara: contributed to cars from the Miura to the latest Formula and Endurance racers

Horacio Pagani: the man who built his own factory to work in his spare time

Nuccio Bertone: a man who brought up generations of designers

Nakai-san: a big source of inspiration for bespoke car builds