Hamish Knox

Profile

Software Engineering student Hamish Knox has a bright future ahead of him. Playing a crucial role in the HWRacing team, Hamish progressed from software contributor to leading the electrical systems team to Team Principal, securing sponsorships, and reshaping the team’s structure. This hands‑on experience in leadership, engineering, and collaboration proved vital during his placement at Amazon, where he was tasked with building an internal AI‑powered tool.

On his graduation day, Hamish is looking forward to the future, having already accepted a return offer from Amazon, being one step closer to realising his long‑term goal of founding his own software start‑up.

Discover more about Hamish’s story below:

What programme did you study and why did you choose it?

I chose MEng Software Engineering for a few reasons - I knew that I wanted to become a software engineer, so some sort of computer science degree was the obvious choice, and the MEng came with the two key benefits of getting a master's for free and the six-month work placement (which I would say was the main reason for choosing the degree). I chose Heriot-Watt because of their reputation for producing practical engineers who go out and build things.

Call you tell us more about your experience as part of the Formula Student team?

HWRacing is Heriot-Watt University's Formula Student team. Every year since 2009 they have designed, built, tested and raced a single-seat open-wheel formula-style racing car to take to the annual Formula Student competition at Silverstone Circuit and compete against other universities from across the world.

I joined the team in my first year of University and was immediately struck by how "real" it felt - this was a group of engineering students working together to tackle an extremely difficult challenge. It gave me the best education in teamwork that one could possibly ask for. Everybody had the same common goal, everybody was competent and motivated, and this was a real project with no pre-defined answer.

At the end of my first year, I was selected to be in charge of the electrical systems department. This was a big step up, as I was in charge of a small team that worked on getting the control electronics on the car working. I spent as much of my time managing as I did engineering, being privy to all the big decisions being made.

At the end of my second year, I was elected to the post of Team Principal - the head of the team. This had a wide range of responsibilities, including negotiating with the University for a budget, talking with large companies to try and obtain major sponsorships and running a relatively large organisation. My first action was to dramatically expand the team, taking us from around 40 people to around 100 and changing the management structure to match.

After this, I took a step back and acted as a consultant to try and avoid stepping on my successor's toes. I gave advice and helped the team manage their internal knowledge base, a role which I continue to carry out to this day.

Can you tell us more about your placement as a software engineer at Amazon?

My time at Amazon was phenomenal - I ended up in London working for a team within Prime Video, building an internal AI-powered tool to solve some problems the team was experiencing. I was given a great amount of autonomy to do as I saw fit so long as it solved the team's problems. The project was seen as extremely successful, to the point where I was asked on multiple occasions to present to directors and VPs visiting from America, something almost unheard of for a placement student.

It was an incredible experience, and I was learning new things every day, but my two biggest insights were into how such a large, successful company operates without losing its spark, and how software works at a massive scale. I don't think I would have got that position without my Formula Student experience, and it continued to help me every single day within the job.

What advice do you have for current students?

My biggest pieces of advice for new students are to get involved with some sort of big team effort beyond your degree. This could be Formula Student, it could be a sport, it could be a society, or just something fun involving working with others.

Be the person who reaches out and gets to know people. It's very easy to get caught up in your own shell, waiting for an invitation, but if you just start introducing yourself to people, you'll go far.

Try and find out what it is that sets you apart. My strengths and weaknesses are very different from most software engineers, but I've leaned into them and used them to my advantage.

What are you planning to do after you graduate?

I have received a return offer from Amazon as well as BlackRock, but I intend to work for Amazon. My long-term goal is to found a software start-up as I loved the experience of running a team and I'm confident in my current ideas.