Tomek Marczewski ‘22 grew up watching Formula 1 cars race by at 200 mph on television. Now, he’s working on those same cars competing in F1.

His engineering journey started at here, continued with Georgia Tech’s collegiate racing competition team and now brings him to Williams Racing, where he engineers for the top level of motorsport competition.

At St. Mark’s, Marczewski always loved to create. Whether he was designing for the robotics team, building in the wood and metal room or working on his own projects, he was always innovating.

He would spend hours tinkering and machining, working on one project. And after all of his effort, Marczewski would be left with a finished creation that represented all the passion and pride that he put into his craft.

“I always liked the idea that with engineering, you could put a bunch of time into designing something, and then you will be able to point to the physical product of all of the time you spent,” Marczewski said.

His passion for design first started with his involvement in wood and metal. The class not only taught him the basics of machining, but it also developed his creative and artistic style.

“Having an understanding of how things are made makes you a better designer,” Marczewski said. “And also, without wood and metal, I think I would be missing a fresh take on things. It gave me a creative outlet, which I think is important for anyone.”

As an engineer at heart, his proudest creations came from his time in the Makerspace. When alumnus Victor Vescovo ‘84, the world record holder for the deepest manned submersible ocean dive, made a visit to the school, Vescovo looked to the Makerspace for assistance in a new venture of his.

He needed a design for a soil sampler that would collect dirt to be analyzed for microplastics. Notably, the sampler would operate from the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest currently known point in the ocean. Marczewski would lead the project.

“We were tasked to find a way to create a mechanical-only soil collection system that could be attached to the underwater landers accompanying the submarine,” Makerspace Director Stewart Mayer said. “And the idea is that they would automatically activate when the landers hit the ocean floor.”

For Marczewski, this project was exactly what he loved about engineering. The design was purely mechanical: Vescovo had tested a commercial, electrical prototype that failed. He and his team poured hours into the project, finding a solution to a niche problem, but there was risk involved.

To make sure the sampler would work successfully, Mayer and Marczewski tested the sampler in Mayer’s backyard pool and in White Rock Lake.

When it was time for the sampler to be put to use, it was a resounding success. By the end of the project, Marczewski left knowing that he had made a tangible impact.

“I think the Vescovo project was obviously really cool, because it was the real world engineering project we could point to,” Marczewski said. “In fact, Jacob Bell ‘21, who worked on it with me, recently sent me a picture (of it). He was at a museum, where they had a watch that had been to the bottom of the ocean with the lander. And there was a video of our own scoop there.”

The momentum didn’t stop there. Upon Marczewski’s arrival to Georgia Tech, he fell in love with a new endeavor — Formula SAE. Created in 1980 by students at the University of Texas at Austin and sponsored by SAE International, Formula SAE (FSAE) is a student design competition where teams are tasked with manufacturing a small Formula-style racing car from the ground up that competes in different events at meets.

“I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to be involved in Formula SAE,” Marczewski said. “I’ve been very heavily involved ever since. That’s the primary way I engage with physical engineering on campus.”

Marczewski led the suspension team for the prototype for two years, working with a subsystem of 18 people under him. Every year the Georgia Tech team would return to Michigan FSAE in order to compete against 119 other teams.

The experiences that Marczewski has had through FSAE have now led him into the world of  professional engineering. And while he has had some doubts, he remains excited, especially given the new opportunities afforded.

“I will say, every time I go work in a professional environment, I’m reminded of why I love FSAE so much,” Marczewski said. “It’s because it moves so fast and you don’t have the restrictions. But professional engineering is wicked cool too. Getting to work for companies like Honda and Tesla, and being in the manufacturer and designing things that get shipped out to hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide is pretty exciting.”

Marczewski is currently in the beginning of a one-year internship program at Formula 1 team Williams Racing in the United Kingdom. As is customary for those in the process of attaining the three-year-long engineering degree, Marczewski has taken a year off to gain real world experience in what is known in the UK as an industrial placement.

Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport, has 10 teams and 20 drivers across the world that race over 24 Grand Prix. Williams, in particular, has made a significant rebound this season compared to recent years and currently sits in fifth place. William’s driver Carlos Sainz recently finished third at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first regular podium since the same race in 2017.

Even more exciting for Marczewski, he is currently working on the driver controls that the Williams Formula 1 team will use for the landmark 2026 season, which will introduce active aerodynamics, Manual Override Mode, as well as smaller, lighter cars.

“We design the steering wheels, seats, pedals, steering columns and brakes,” Marczewski said. ”I’m actively designing components that will go on that car, which is tremendously exciting.”

Marczewski attributes his engineering opportunities to his hands-on experience with the Makerspace.

“The Makerspace and the technical sort of courses that are offered at St. Mark’s are awesome,” Marczewski said. “And stuff like having access to a CNC mill in high school – I think we don’t realize how lucky we are that that’s there, and how much of an advantage it gives us when we then go into college and the professional world.”

Because of Marczewski’s time at the Makerspace, Tomek Marczewski, who has been a lifelong Formula 1 fan, has now taken an active role in what was once a dream to him — actually designing components for a real Formula 1 car.