From his UNB Coaster Derby car to creating the next generation of high-performance vehicles, Craig Wood (BScME’01), has designed a career in a field he loves. Growing up in Fredericton, Craig was always a car guy, just like his father.
It wasn’t surprising, then, that while a mechanical engineering student at UNB, he was part of a team that built and raced what would become a legendary Coaster Derby car that has careened down the steep hills of UNB’s Fredericton campus for decades in the annual Coaster Derby.
Craig teamed up with Chris Wilcox (BScME’01), Jason Wilcox (BScME’04) and Mike Harvey (BScME’01) to build a car in 1999 that “definitely added car flair to the event.” “We built it with parts from all over Fredericton and raced it for three years. It did so well that we handed it down to Chris’ brothers, Jason and then Kyle Wilcox (BScME’09). It won every year it was raced.”
In fact, Chris entered the car in the 2007 Coaster Derby as an alumni entry, and then passed it on to students once again, and it’s continued to be used in recent races.
"Seeing graduates come out of schools in the U.S., it confirms how in-depth the education we received at UNB was in comparison. I had the skills to know how to succeed."
For Craig, it was only the beginning of a career working on cars and high-performance engines. After graduating from UNB, Craig received an NSERC (National Science and Engineering Research Council) grant that allowed him to choose an institution for graduate studies. “I chose the University of Windsor because it offered an automotive option, the only school in Canada to offer it at that time. Since industry employers were closely connected with the school, I got to know Roush Industries, and not long after graduating with my master’s degree, I received an offer from Roush. “It’s been my dream job ever since.”
Roush Industries is an American automotive company, headquartered in Livonia, MI, a suburb of Detroit. Most people have come to know the company for Roush Performance and the RFK Racing team, who campaign two NASCAR Cup Series cars. What many don’t know is the much larger engineering services companies that lies beneath. “Within the engineering discipline, there are many divisions including body, chassis, powertrain, electrical, noise vibration and harshness (NVH), computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE) and program management to name a few. Although I work primarily on propulsion systems, I often find myself crossing into other engineering disciplines and divisions of the company. Roush encourages and trains employees to be multi-disciplined and acquire as much hands-on experience as possible.”
Craig says he started as a junior engineer, then a senior engineer and now manages the Advanced Engineering group, where he oversees approximately 50 people who come from all over Canada and the US to work there. The Advanced Engineering group is the research and development wing of the company in which early level technology concepts are proven out and quite often end up as fully operational functional prototypes. He’s worked on everything from performance road vehicles, race cars, autonomous vehicles, trains, personal watercraft, all the way up to engines that go into space, and attractions for places like Disney and Universal. “I really enjoy the challenges I’m faced with every day. No two days are ever the same which keeps this exciting. I’m often amazed at the projects people pay us to work on."
“UNB prepped me well. This kind of work requires engineers who are well rounded with both technical and problem-solving skills. The projects we tackle are difficult, and we work on them from start to finish, so you really must enjoy what you do. Seeing graduates come out of schools in the U.S., it confirms how in-depth the education we received at UNB was in comparison. I had the skills to know how to succeed.”
Craig has kept in touch with grads from the mechanical engineering program at UNB. He’s involved as an industry professional judge with Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition, one of the largest engineering education competitions in the world. The competition challenges teams of university undergraduate and graduate students to conceive, design, fabricate, develop and compete with a formula-style vehicle. It was at one of these events where he met Nick Dowling (BScME’18, DTME’18), one of the founders of Potential Motors in New Brunswick. “It’s great to see other students and graduates doing so well out of the program. When you get involved and participate in hands-on activities as a student, it makes all the difference in getting ahead when you graduate.”
Although Craig didn't make it to the 48th annual Coaster Derby at UNB this fall, he’s hoping their legendary car might run – and win – once again. The competition was held on Sept. 29, along MacKay Drive on the Fredericton campus. The UNB Associated Alumni is a proud sponsor again this year and invites alumni and the community to come out to enjoy the event.
Craig confirms, "It's a great way for students to show off the really impressive skills they’ve learned in class, and have a lot of fun while doing it. It was a memorable part of my time at UNB.”
