International Women in Engineering Day (INWED): Extreme H Ambassador Carves Out Path in Motorsport
London, UK, 23 June 2026: Extreme H is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of motorsport talent from all backgrounds, and the races provide aspiring professionals with the high-level exposure and hands-on experience needed to launch successful careers across the industry.
This International Women in Engineering Day, Extreme H continues to revisit the journeys of its STEM Ambassadors and Racing for All candidates, to learn about where their careers since have taken them. Jessica Maria Brito, who joined two Extreme E races in 2024, has gone on to pioneer new research in racing, whilst at the same time furthering her own practical experience in the motorsport industry.
When did your interest in STEM subjects begin?
My journey into engineering started out of a desire to help my mother, whom I often joined when getting our car fixed at the local garage. With English not being her first language, she found it difficult to understand problems that were quite complex, so out of curiosity, I started reading our car’s manual and looking under the hood of the car, and it all snowballed from there. Later on, when my sister was converting a van, I taught myself on YouTube how to wire electronics, and eventually began shadowing the mechanics during our visits, where my interest kept growing.
How did you find your way into motorsport?
At the same time, my passion for motorsport was growing, fueled by watching the races on television. I knew I wanted to get on track and join one of the best teams one day, so I researched the career paths of all the top engineers and traced back where they had studied. I compiled this information into a spreadsheet, which then became my roadmap into the industry, and I started applying to and follow in their footsteps. I was accepted to study Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes University, where I've been getting involved as broadly as I can by joining all of the motoring and engineering societies.
What was your experience like as an Extreme E STEM Ambassador?
As STEM ambassadors, our main role was to learn directly from the technical partners and sponsors at the races, so we could take guests on paddock tours and explain every aspect of what it took to run a successful event. Hosting the tours really helped me build my confidence in meeting new people. We were also encouraged to make the most of our time on site by spending time with teams and suppliers across the race paddock.
I spent a lot of time with the engineers from Spark Racing Technology, who built the Odyssey 21 electric race cars, observing how they supported the racing teams and took notes from the drivers to feed that data back to their own team for the continued development of the car. I was fascinated by it all.
Where are you now in your career, and what are your ambitions ahead?
I am currently completing the third year of my degree, which includes working on my final dissertation, focusing on lap time simulations as a tool for race strategy in endurance racing. This involves taking the 2025 & 2026 endurance regulations and applying them to a long-term simulation with the aim of testing and optimising pit stop windows. It has been an incredible learning experience as I've analysed 24-hour races like Le Mans and Daytona, digging into pit crew fatigue and building pacing strategies to optimise against it.
Once that is complete, I will return to Wayne Taylor Racing, where I have been working for the last few years as a Junior Support Engineer. I will soon decide which engineering path I want to pursue, currently weighing up the options between performance engineering and race strategy. My team has been incredibly supportive in helping me navigate these next steps for my career.
How can students start equipping themselves now for a career in STEM subjects and motorsport more broadly?
Engineering is in everything that we use; it’s so broad, so I would say to follow your curiosity. Google is one of the best places to start and a fantastic free tool, so I’d recommend looking up summer programmes, coding camps, and also organisations like Driven by Us and Girls on Track for opportunities to learn and develop new skills. Now that I’m in the industry, my best piece of advice would be to be adaptable - whichever area you end up in, team members need people who can think on their feet and problem solve, it goes a long way!