Kerry Spackman (born 26 June 1956 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a

cognitive neuroscientist Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental processe ...

and Winner of the 2010 World Class New Zealand Award for Creative Thinking, and the 1992 NEEDA Award for the most Significant Electronic Export. He coaches athletes, business people, and other personalities to succeed within their chosen fields. He has been a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

to four Formula One teams as well as the

New Zealand All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

specialising in performance optimisation and he is a director of the

New Zealand Government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

GoldMine program which develops specialized electronics and mathematical analysis for Olympic athletes.

Life and career

Spackman was born to father Dr Dennis Spackman, a

medical practitioner A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and mother Rowan, whose father was Sir

Trevor Henry Sir Trevor Ernest Henry (9 May 1902 – 20 June 2007) was a New Zealand jurist and member of the well known Henry family. Biography Henry was born in Thames in 1902, and was the son of John and Edith Henry. He was the eldest of the three sons ...

a High Court Judge in New Zealand. Spackman spent much of his childhood in Auckland. He was educated at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

before training as a mathematician at the University of Waikato and Auckland. Early in his career, Spackman worked with a New Zealand-based Physicist to develop electronic equipment to measure the

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

of cars. The pair then sold these programmes on to automotive companies including Rolls-Royce,

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and Ford. During this period Spackman met the three times World Formula One Champion Sir Jackie Stewart with whom he later worked to develop a program to train professional test drivers. Spackman continued to work with Jackie Stewart at

Stewart Grand Prix Stewart Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor and racing team founded by triple Formula One champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul Stewart in 1996. The team competed in F1, as the Ford works-supported team, for only three seasons, from 199 ...

and

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

for a number of years. In Formula One, Spackman is recognised as making contributions in areas ranging from simulator design to driver optimisation. Spackman currently divides his time between New Zealand and the United States and is a father and grandfather.

Books and television

*''The Winners Bible: Rewire Your Brain For Permanent Change'' (2009) (Greenleaf Book Group) *''The Ant and the Ferrari'' (2012) (Harper Collins) * In television Spackman has written and presented a showcase 1 hour documentary for the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

about his work in Formula One called "Speed Science".

References

External links

Kerry Spackman official siteThe Ant and the Ferrari (book site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spackman, Kerry 1956 births People educated at Auckland Grammar School Living people University of Waikato alumni