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January 23, 2006 Vol. 77,
no. 2S
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| IN
THE FAST LANE:
“The Berkeley name is what helped me get the job for sure,” says
ME alum Raza Malik. (Photo provided by Raza Malik)
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The most
enviable job
Alum lands a scholarship working for the planet’s sexiest auto company
Raza Malik (B.S.’03 M.S.’05 ME) lives in Italy. He’s
learning Italian, and on the weekends, he travels. He’s been
to Amsterdam, Belgium, Florence, Turin (where the Winter Olympics will
be held this year) and Venice. He wants to go back to Venice. He says
that Italians “drive like crazy,” but when it comes to
eating, they spend three hours over dinner. Oh, and he works at Ferrari.
“I’m part of a new innovation team made up of five engineers
from around the world whose long-term goal is to research, among other
things,
a new interface between man and machine,” he says. “We’re
tasked with coming up with random new ideas for Ferrari GTs, such as
taking fighter jet technology and applying it, or teaching the car
to read its driver’s emotions.”
Uh, cool.
It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for most car-loving mechies. “The
first time I saw a Ferrari in real life, I was blown away,” he
says. “The only reason I became an ME was because I was interested
in cars. My dream has always been to work for Ferrari, but I never
expected it to happen.”
Last May, a friend forwarded Malik an email advertising the one-year
scholarship. He applied and was flown to Modena, Italy, for interviews.
As a graduate student, he had worked in ME professor Robert Dibble’s
combustion analysis lab. But the key that opened the Ferrari door,
Malik believes, was his MOT training, the Berkeley Management of Technology
certificate program for graduate students. In his interviews, he emphasized
his business background and his broad interest in Ferrari. He even
wrote an essay explaining why he wanted to work there. Soon afterward,
he learned he was one of five chosen from 500 applicants.
“I was in disbelief,” he says. “Then I had to get
used to the idea of living in another country for a year.”
Being in Italy has taken some adjustment, he says. It’s more
laid back and the bureaucracy is omniscient. It took Malik two months
to get Internet installed at home, for example. At work, things are
done the Italian way, with less direct oversight from managers and
more emphasis on relationships and friendships.
Though he hasn’t driven one, Malik has ridden in an F430 with
one of Ferrari’s top drivers. “It was amazing,” Malik
recalls. “I thought we would fly off the track. We’d approach
a turn at 160 m.p.h., and I thought there was no way we would make
it. Then he’d slam on the brakes, rip the wheel … it was
pretty amazing.”
As for future plans, the ME alum says he wants to earn his MBA, and,
at some point, work for Ferrari North America. In the meantime, he
really really likes his life.
Think you have a good idea for Ferrari? Work with Malik on a project.
Email him at raza.malik@gmail.com.
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