Ian Foley, Company Founder and CEO of Equipmake, is a highly-experienced engineer who has worked in global motorsport at the highest level – from Le Mans to F1.
Beginning his career in 1988 at Lotus Engineering, Ian worked in the pioneering Active Suspension group, developing some of the first computer controlled suspensions, before moving to the Formula 1 team in 1990, eventually leading the R&D function which developed and raced Active Suspension in 1993.
From 1995 to 1997 Ian co founded and jointly led the Lotus GT Sports Car Team, developing Lotus Espirit and Elise GT cars for the international Championship team, before leaving to set up Equipmake in 1997.
Initially an engineering consultancy, Equipmake focused on the development of power electronics and inverter control systems. Following the announcement of the hybrid regulations for F1 in 2007, Equipmake acquired the rights for a novel composite flywheel, which was effectively a high speed electric motor, and began the development of a hybrid system with this technology.
The system was developed with Williams F1 as a customer in 2009, following the successful initial development, Williams F1 became a partner, with the technology eventually being spun out to a new company, Williams Hybrid Power in 2010. This innovation went on to further success with Porsche and Audi in endurance racing (with Audi winning Le Mans three times) – and with applications for the flywheel technology outside of motorsport. The business was acquired by GKN in 2014.
Ian then returned fully to Equipmake, building the team to it’s current level as a leading developer of motors, inverters, and systems for the energy transition.
