Chetan Kotur was born in Hong Kong and moved to the UK at the age of five, growing up in Newton Aycliffe and attending a local primary school. When his parents felt he wasn’t being challenged enough, they encouraged him to make the hour-long coach journey to Yarm Prep School at the age of eight.

From talking and sketching cars in Design & Technology at school to designing his first car by the age of 26, Chetan has turned a childhood dream into a remarkable career. He helped launch the Polestar brand globally as the right-hand of the CEO and is now transforming the construction industry as Head of Technology and Innovation at Laing O’Rourke.

We caught up with Chetan to hear about his journey, the inspirations that shaped him, the challenges he’s overcome, and his advice for the next generation of Yarm pupils aiming for a future in engineering.

What are some of your memories from Yarm?

When I joined the Prep School it took a little while to adapt as the days were long and I was exhausted. But once I settled in, I threw myself into everything: I started playing the saxophone, fell in love with cricket, and really enjoyed the competitive spirit and challenge that came with Prep School life. A special memory from the Prep School was the Fathers versus Sons Cricket match. I was part of Mr Abraham’s General Knowledge Club and still remember the 10 tallest mountains in the world and the deepest part of the ocean from those quizzes.

Yarm, it was just an incredible platform for music, for sport, for drama, for academia and all of that. I loved all my subjects although D&T captured my heart and Mr Stewart inspired me to follow my dreams.

I also learnt one of the biggest lessons of my life when a teacher in Prep School tore up my homework because it wasn’t up to the standard he knew I could achieve. I spent hours redoing it with my mum and ended up getting the highest mark in the class. That moment taught me two things that have stayed with me ever since: always aim for the top, and always give your absolute best.

What did you do post Yarm - university, placements, etc?

After Yarm, I headed to QE in Darlington, after my parents suggested I look at the Sixth Form. It was completely different to Yarm - it had over 2000 students! I threw myself into all the opportunities on offer and became Student President.

From QE, I went to Loughborough University to study Automotive Engineering. It was a dream from day one, they were teaching us how to design cars. It was one of the toughest things I have ever done, and the course almost broke me a couple of times, but it actually motivated me to work even harder.

Whilst at university, the Royal Academy of Engineering were looking for the top 30 students in engineering to give a scholarship to, and my professor and tutor, Martin Passmore (a major influence in my life), told me I should apply. I was successful and received £5,000 for my personal development, along with a place on a mentoring programme. This included attending global conferences, where I met engineering “superheroes” such as the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA, owners of major construction companies, heard Bill Gates speak, and even met Will.i.am! These experiences completely opened my eyes and made me realise that if I really stuck at engineering and pushed myself to the limits of what I was capable of, I too, could one day change the world and achieve something truly significant.

During my time at Loughborough, I also completed a placement at Cummins in Darlington, which allowed me to live back home. I learned how to design engines and gained an invaluable introduction to the working world of engineering. Designing engines for buses and trucks was an incredible experience, but it also made me realise even more clearly that my passion was working with cars.

Tell us what inspired you to pursue engineering and how did you navigate the choice between medicine and engineering?

At Yarm, I enjoyed all my subjects, but it was Design & Technology that really captured my imagination and that was largely thanks to Mr Stewart. He shared my three biggest passions: creativity, cricket, and cars! Mr Stewart used to drive an old Triumph TR6, and we would often talk about cars for hours.

When I was doing my GCSEs Mr Stewart spoke to me at the end of a lesson and showed me a poster of Jaguar’s car design competition to design a car of the future. He encouraged me to enter because he knew I loved cars and was good at drawing. That Christmas, when I should have been revising for my exams, I spent my time sketching car designs. I came up with the concept of a Jaguar 4x4, which was not a thing back then and sent it off not expecting to hear back.

I got a letter in the post saying that I had won the competition! I won £1,500 for the school and got a VIP trip to the Jaguar headquarters. I was allowed to take one person with me, so I took Mr Stewart. We were chauffeured in a Jaguar XJ all the way to the headquarters, where we met the Head of Design, Ian Callum, who gave us a tour of the design studio.

When I left Yarm after my GCSEs, Mr Stewart wrote in my school book: “Keep the dream.” He encouraged me to follow my passion for cars and design rather than pursue medicine – the other career I was considering, following in my family’s footsteps.

Later, while at QE in Darlington, I had a careers meeting to discuss my dilemma between medicine and car design. About a week later, I was invited to take part in a Channel 4 initiative about students struggling with career choices. I went to the meeting, which turned out to be an audition for a new documentary, Vocation, Vocation, Vocation. I was selected as one of the students, and cameras followed me around for almost a whole year! It was a little embarrassing, but it led to some incredible opportunities.

The programme took me back to Jaguar and I got introduced to the Head of Studio Engineering which was a department I knew nothing about at the time. It was described to me as the “jam in the sandwich” between engineering and car design. I just thought that it was perfect for me as it combined my strengths of sciences and passion for design. 

After a trip to meet the professor at Loughborough University and see the facilities for the Automotive Engineering course, I just thought it was simply the coolest place. I simultaneously did some work experience at Darlington Memorial Hospital which was great, but after another stint of work experience at Jaguar Land Rover’s design studio, I decided I was definitely going to work with cars!

Tell us about how you got your first job in the automotive world?

I was so focused on getting a graduate job that I had prepared all my applications and CVs before the summer holidays, so I was prepared for the opening dates for applications. I applied to Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin as those were the two companies I was really interested in. 

It took them about four weeks to get back to me, and in that time I actually got twitchy and wondered if I should apply elsewhere. One day, I was looking through the back of a Top Gear magazine looking at all the car companies, while on the phone to a friend from the Royal Academy of Engineering Scholarship programme. She was in New York, having just completed an interview, and that’s when it dawned on me that there was a world outside of the UK! My competitive spirit kicked in, and I thought I should maybe be looking outside the UK too. The last company on the list was Volvo, based in Sweden, so I checked their graduate programme and applied.

I was fortunate enough to get offers from both Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin, it felt like I had achieved my childhood dream. But several weeks later I got a phone call from Sweden offering me an interview at Volvo. After some deliberation, and my mum struggling to understand why I would look beyond my “dream job” in the UK, I decided to treat it as a free trip to Sweden and flew to Gothenburg for the interview.

Sweden was beautiful and I was struck by the global nature of the company. There were candidates from all over the world at the interview. I somehow got offered a position straight away and then had to decide between 3 dream jobs. I spoke to a professor at university, who said that I could work in the UK anytime, but I could create an amazing life story by moving to Sweden straight from uni and allow me to learn from some of the world’s most talented engineers. So, I accepted the graduate programme job at Volvo.

Whilst at Volvo some career highlights were working in the Collision Avoidance Department, creating functions for cars that were using autonomous steering and braking systems to avoid collisions. The system was launched in the Volvo XC60 and my Dad ended up buying that car which was really significant for me. Coming from a family of doctors, he had initially been unsure about me becoming an engineer but knowing that I had contributed to a feature that could literally save lives was incredible. It also felt like I was taking care of my dad every day he drove his car.

I also achieved a childhood dream when I worked as a Studio Engineer in the Volvo car design studio. I got to design a car from scratch and see it through the entire process - that car eventually became the Polestar 2. My mum bought that car and still drives it today! It was an incredible experience and a pivotal moment in my career.

Can you tell us how you made the leap to being CEO’s Assistant at Polestar and are there any particular highlights from your time at Polestar?

I had just returned back to Sweden from a summer in the UK when I received a phone call from the newly appointed CEO of Polestar. He had realised that the role was essentially a two-man job and wanted me to join him so I could learn how to become a CEO, while working together to build and launch a brand-new electric car company. So I finished the design of Polestar 2 and then jumped to work alongside an incredible game-changing CEO. 

For three and a half years, I worked with him to build the Polestar brand from scratch, travelling the world, being innovative and creating a global car company. I had the incredible experience of driving the Polestar 2 on stage for its global reveal and presenting it at the Geneva Motor Show.

There were so many highlights, I got to name a car, the Polestar Precept. I also pitched an idea to the CEO for an R&D team in the UK when Brexit happened. That idea came to fruition and ultimately employed 500 engineers in the Midlands.

Mr Stewart was such a pivotal person in my life, so when I was back in the UK, I was able to take one of the first Polestar 2s to his house so that he could take it for a test drive and experience what he had encouraged me to do. It was an amazing moment to give back to someone who had inspired me and helped make this journey possible.

After three and a half years, I was ready for something else, so my wife and I moved to Shanghai because Polestar was struggling over there and I had an opportunity to fix the business as Head of Products for Asia-Pacific.

Unfortunately, Covid hit, and we had a brutal lockdown where we got locked in our apartment for 63 days. As soon as we could, we packed a couple of bags and headed for the airport to go to Sweden.

What motivated you to move from Polestar to Laing O’Rouke? What does your current position entail?

When I landed back in Europe from China, I was contacted by the CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the same person who had handed me the Young Engineer of the Year award on stage several years prior. She asked if I would be open to having a chat with the CEO and Founder of Laing O’Rourke – the largest privately-owned Construction company in the UK. I actually thought he was maybe interested in buying a Polestar! 

After several conversations, he flew me to his office and asked “What do you want to be doing in 9 years time, by the time you’re 40?” I said I wanted to be making a positive impact on society. That’s when he offered me the job as Head of Technology and Innovation to come and disrupt and transform the global construction industry. 

He made a compelling point: electric cars alone weren’t going to change the world, but construction contributes to 39% of global carbon emissions and I could make a real difference if we change how we build infrastructure. So, I am now responsible for R&D across a global business that employs 15,000 people and builds some of the biggest infrastructure in the world. 

At heart, I'm an engineer motivated to make a positive impact in the world. The role at Laing O’Rourke offered me the opportunity to do this.

How did it feel to be Young Engineer of the Year (2018) and now elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2025).

My professor from Loughborough University had been watching my career and nominated me for the Royal Academy of Engineering Young Engineer of the Year in 2018 while I was living in Sweden and I went on to win it. It was an amazing and surreal moment.

Last year I was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, which is the highest national honour you can receive as an engineer. I never thought this would happen to me, especially at the age of 34, and becoming the youngest Fellow makes it even more unbelievable. I just never thought it would happen so quickly. It was definitely a pinch-me moment, and I feel so humbled and privileged to have the life I have and the experiences I’ve had.

I just want to use all of these opportunities and platforms to make the biggest difference I possibly can for the country and the world, whilst hopefully inspiring a whole generation of young engineers to realise that they can do it too.

Looking ahead, where do you hope to be in 5-10 years?

I’ve focused so much of my life on my career that I can’t simply switch that drive off, but I also want to prioritise my family, making sure they are happy and giving them as much time as I can. I have travelled around the world, and that is still part of my life, it doesn’t have to be everything though.

Career-wise, I want to be at the forefront of changing the global construction industry. We're really driving some advanced technologies in construction, to bring robotics and automation into construction and eliminate manual strain.

The UK is in urgent need of massive infrastructure that will allow society to function in the future. I am really motivated to lead the charge to help ensure that we can do it safely, sustainably and productively. We have the opportunity to put the UK on the forefront of the global engineering industry.

Right now, I'm in a place where I just feel very happy and content with my life, and I'm looking forward with an eager curiosity, still with the same raw ambition that I've always had.

What advice would you give Yarm pupils thinking about engineering? 

Someone ends up with the dream job, so why can’t it be you? There is no replacement for hard work. Believe in yourself, be self-aware but be confident and take risks. My philosophy is that you've only got one life, you may as well live it – so take risks! I guess this is quite funny as I grew up in a medical family that came from humble roots in India and are generally risk averse.

I am hugely passionate about the fact that engineers change the world - they build it and design it. Engineers imagine our world, and in my mind, it is a noble career choice.

Be curious, be kind and back yourself.

Reflecting back on your time at Yarm are there any key skills or attributes that you would attribute to the school?

I think the environment at Yarm really pushed me to challenge myself and strive to be the best I could be. My drive and competitiveness are qualities I discovered and were nurtured at school, but the extra-curricular opportunities also gave me a chance to explore my interests and discover what I was capable of. I’m incredibly grateful for the education I received at Yarm and especially thankful to teachers like Mr Stewart, who inspired me to “keep the dream” alive.

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A huge thank you to Chetan for so generously giving his time and sharing his journey and career with us. It is a priviledge to be able to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our Yarm Alumni, and we offer our warmest congratulations to Chetan on his election as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. We wish him continued success and look forward to following his future achievements. 

If you would like to share your personal or professional experiences, from your time at Yarm or beyond, we would love to hear from you. Please email Philippa, to arrange a conversation.