MGI Turns to F1 to Accelerate Engineering Capabilities
MGI Engineering (MGI) has expanded its Formula 1 influence with two key hires from motor sport to strengthen its advanced engineering capabilities and drive growth in defence and other sectors.
Seasoned Formula 1 engineer Phil Stanton has joined the Whitney-based company as Head of Design, while Jonathan Dean, who has worked extensively with Phil in the past, has joined MGI as Technical Director.
Both bring deep F1 experience and track-proven engineering methods that will be applied across MGI’s design and engineering divisions. MGI is presently heavily invested in the defence aviation sector, calling on its racetrack abilities to turn battleworthy innovations rapidly into production.
Previously, Phil held the position of Head of Design at Fortescue Zero, where he was responsible for the design and process engineering of a wide range of projects across supercars, show-cars, hypercars and the retail sector.
In Formula 1, Phil was Principal Design Engineer at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, where he worked closely with Sir Patrick Head and managed a team of engineers to execute vehicle design and layout, concept design and technical support.
Jonathan takes the position of Technical Director at MGI and brings extensive vehicle integration and product lifecycle experience from Williams Advanced Engineering, Hewland Engineering and earlier roles in Formula 1 teams Caterham and Lotus.
He also led engine design work for the Singer DLS supercar.
At MGI he will manage engineering functions and deliver major projects, ensuring the company’s technical work meets the rigour required by defence and other regulated sectors.
The appointments of Phil and Jonathan bolster MGI’s aims to expand its service levels and increase its capabilities in the defence sector, as well as enable growth into new markets.
Phil Stanton, Head of Design at MGI Engineering, said: “It is an incredibly exciting time to join MGI. The company is on the cusp of real expansion and growth, especially within the defence sector.
“The defence sector operates like Formula 1 in many ways, demanding results in quick time, where failure isn’t an option in a race against competitors. As all sectors evolve and solutions increasingly require engineering, that ability to innovate at speed will be required.”
Jonathan Dean, Technical Director at MGI, said: “I’m looking forward to helping to build an even more skilled and agile company that can react instantly to challenges and drive real innovation not only in defence but in many sectors.
“MGI is involved in truly cutting-edge projects, and there is a huge passion at this company that attracted me to the role. I hope to utilise my experience in managing the entire lifecycle of products and my business leadership expertise to help grow MGI.”
“Bringing Phil and Jonathan into MGI is a strategic step in our growth,” said Mike Gascoyne, CEO, MGI. “Their Formula 1 pedigrees are about methods; extreme benchmarking, rapid iteration, tight tolerances and systems thinking.
“Those methods are highly transferable and exactly what our defence and new-sector customers need. With Phil and Jonathan on board we can accelerate delivery, deepen technical capability and offer solutions informed by the highest levels of engineering discipline.”
By harnessing Formula 1 methodologies such as rapid prototyping, cross-discipline collaboration and relentless validation, MGI aims to deliver differentiated, reliable solutions for demanding programmes.