SouravPattnaik
I make cars feel right, then prove it with data.
Senior Manager in Driving Dynamics at Tata Motors, developing how 12 ICE and EV programs ride, handle and steer. Before that: a torque vectoring controller at Polestar, an MSc in Automotive Systems in the Netherlands and three Formula Student cars.
Hold anywhere on the track to push harder.
Ride, handling & steering
Senior Manager, Driving Dynamics, at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles. I'm responsible for how the cars ride, turn and steer, from the first target sheet to proving-ground sign-off. Unreleased programs stay under wraps; in the garage below they appear only as shadows.
- TGT
Targets
Set vehicle-level ride, handling and steering targets and cascaded them down to chassis systems and parts.
- DMP
Dampers
Tuned conventional, frequency-dependent and semi-active dampers. Built a semi-active damper proof of concept.
- OBJ
Objective testing
Ran ride, steady-state cornering, transient handling and kinematics & compliance (K&C) tests, and correlated them with subjective ratings.
- MTR
Ride metrics
Developed a ride evaluation method and metrics that track what drivers actually feel.
- T/S
Tyres & steering
Developed tyres at vehicle level and calibrated electric power steering (EPAS), including drive modes.
- FUT
Technology roadmap
Wrote the annual ride, handling and steering technology roadmap that shapes choices for future platforms.
Damping is a trade-off. Too little and the body floats over every crest; too much and every crack in the road comes through. Slide ζ and watch the car take a speed bump.
14 cars and counting
From a Formula Student racer to production SUVs. Unreleased programs stay in the shadows.
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Eight files, six you can play with
Work from Polestar, HAN University, Formula Student, an internship at Volvo Eicher and my bachelor's. Each file opens a short write-up; the first six also come with a live, simplified version of the model behind them, so you can try it yourself.
The route here
From a Formula Student garage in Chennai to a car maker's proving ground, via the Netherlands and Sweden. Ten years, five stints.
StudyRacingIndustrySelect a stint for details
Behind the wheel
I like the whole loop: write the requirement, model it, build it, then drive it until the data and the seat of my pants agree.
Most of my work sits where subjective feel meets objective data. A good ride engineer can describe what a car does in a sentence. A better one turns that sentence into a metric, a target and a part change.
I've been taking things apart to see how they work for as long as I can remember. Off the clock I play basketball and football, both at regional level, and I read a lot.
- P2Formula Bharat 2020, Engineering Design
As Technical Director, Camber Racing
- ★HAN Excellence Award & Holland Scholarship
HAN University, 2021
- P3Formula Bharat 2019, Engineering Design
As Powertrain Engineer, Camber Racing
Take the wheel. Move your pointer or finger over the plot to brake, corner and accelerate. Push past the dashed friction limit and the tyres let go. This is how I read a lap.
Box, box.Let's talk.
Always up for a conversation about vehicle dynamics, chassis controls or simulation, with teams in India, Europe and beyond. If you're building cars that should drive well, get in touch.
Five reds, then lights out. Tap as soon as they go dark. F1 drivers typically react in around 0.2 seconds.
Shortcuts: 1–4 sectors · 5 pit lane · 0 back to the grid
Thanks for the lap.
You've seen the day job, eight case files, the route here and the person behind the wheel. If any of it fits what you're building, the CV has the short version.