While providing enjoyment to billions, motorsports have been a constant source of innovation, pushing the boundaries of engineering for mobility. Today, the challenge rests with electric mobility and, while already advanced for land vehicles, huge challenges remain for aquatic mobility.

In this talk, the speaker will elaborate on his path in pushing the limits of engineering through motorsport and why E1series.com will propel aquatic mobility to a new dimension.

About the speaker

Rodi Basso is a Naples-born engineer with a passion for nature and sustainability. After more than a decade working at the pinnacle of motorsport, Basso moved on to other projects, focusing on business performance and development for major organizations at Magneti Marelli and McLaren Applied Technologies. During his tenure at McLaren, he met Spanish businessman and entrepreneur Alejandro Agag, while working to develop the new battery for the Gen2 Formula E car.

In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, he was walking along the Thames River in London with Agag and came up with the idea of an electric race boat championship on the water, akin to Formula E and Extreme E. This ultimately led Basso to work alongside Norwegian designer Sophi Horne to develop what would eventually become the RaceBird, which is the innovative electric foiling boat that the pilots will race in the UIM E1 World Championship.

This event is brought to you by Prof. Carlos Duarte and Dr. Ian Campbell.