Varun Chugh

Yelena sat in the passenger seat of a Bentley, looking at an iPad.

The R&D journey

Pre-production

Teamwork

Torcal and beyond

To drive a Bentley is to experience all the tactile sensations of a beautifully crafted artefact, from the hand-stitched leather of the steering wheel to the knurling on controls and dials. Yet a modern-day Bentley is also an amalgam of highly sophisticated software programmes which monitors everything from wheel slip angles to ambient temperatures. A Bentley of 100 years ago was a completely analogue, mechanical vehicle; today’s equivalent is effectively underpinned by a series of advanced computers which are seamlessly integrated to deliver the characteristic Bentley driving experience.

It’s Varun Chugh’s responsibility as a whole vehicle integration engineer to work through the Research and Development process with his colleagues, managing the software, hardware, planning and testing before a new Bentley such as Torcal is released for production. It’s a challenging role, but Varun loves it.

“The team that I'm in is about 10 people,” Varun explains. “But with it being a whole vehicle, we work with everyone across R&D. We’re in regular meetings with the electrical engineers and the functional team, as well as the people in production because they need project updates.”

“The integration team handles software and hardware planning and testing. Our goal is to see the R&D process through from initial concepts and prototypes to the finished car, so that we can then say to the manufacturing line, ‘here is how we deliver a car to production’. The main element is the software within the car, but we’ve also been developing our own tools to enable a more seamless progression of those cars from one prototype stage to another.”

Until recently Varun worked on Torcal, Bentley’s new SUV and the first-ever Bentley EV. “That was the first major project that I've been involved with. Everyone in the team is really proud of it. I've only been here 12 months, but a lot has changed in that time.”

Following the launch of Torcal, Varun’s team is still involved in ongoing quality assessments (called gateways) but his day-to-day role has changed. “Right now, I'm on placement in the concepts and architecture team and that means looking ahead to future models. We work closely with the design team, getting ideas from them and exploring how we could implement them.”

Yelena sat at a desk, typing on a laptop.

Joining Bentley

Student years

Mastering interviews

Varun studied robotics, mechatronics and control engineering at Loughborough University, graduating in 2025 with a first-class master’s degree. His five-year course included multiple industrial placements, so Bentley wasn’t his first workplace environment. By the time he applied for a position at Crewe, he knew he wanted a role with practical and tangible outcomes.

“Even when I was a kid, I was always just building and tinkering with stuff. At school I was drawn to sciences, maths and physics, with the proviso I wanted to build and produce things rather than focus on the theoretical.”

“I didn’t specifically aim to work in the automotive industry, though I’ve always loved motorsport. But the appeal of Bentley was that it’s at the cutting edge and is genuinely one of the best in its industry, which I don't think you can say about many companies.”

“At Loughborough we were lucky in that we've got a strong placements outreach team. I knew Bentley had been on site, and I was aware that this was an opportunity. The process was quite straightforward, with an online application and assessment. After that I had an interview with my current manager and team. From initial application to job offer took a couple of months, all told.”

An articulate and confident individual, Varun became a mentor while at Loughborough. “For many students, particularly within engineering, it's their first time applying for jobs. They might not necessarily understand how technical interviews work or how to frame a CV for technical based jobs. Because I had done placements at different companies, it was an opportunity to help first and second year engineers, giving them the advice that I would have wanted when I was going through the application process.”

The Bentley culture

Networking

Out of hours

Looking ahead

Varun joined Bentley full time in 2025 as part of an early careers’ cohort that included apprentices, industrial placements and graduates. As he spends most of his working week on site he lives in nearby Nantwich, close to the Bentley campus. “All the grads tend to live in and around the area, so between us we've made a nice community.”

“The beauty of working at Bentley is that it’s both a big company and a small company. You end up knowing people having worked with them on other projects. So it is easy to say, oh, I know this person in your team. They thought it would be nice for me to have a chat with you. And then you say, can we go have a coffee and speak about an opportunity. Everyone seems to be willing to do that.”

Away from work, Varun likes to keep in shape. He practices Muay Thai, a martial art and full-contact combat sport. “I got into it at university and even took part in a tournament. I’m keen to keep that going even if I’m not competing.”

In August, Varun and a couple of colleagues ran the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in support of Cancer Fund for Children. “It was challenging, but it was very good fun. We made a bit of a holiday of it, either side of the event itself.”

Varun’s career at Bentley is only just beginning, and he’s looking forward to getting a bigger picture of the company through placements in different departments. “I'm currently with the concepts team, and I’ve got another placement coming up in manufacturing with the aim of rounding myself out as an engineer. I want to get a strong technical grounding within R&D, so I can be in the thick of the design process and implementing technical changes.”

Does he have any advice for other students who might be considering a career or a placement at Bentley? “From my own experience, everyone at Bentley has been really accommodating with seeing what your skills are and then coming up with a plan for you. So I’d definitely say give it a go and speak to the early careers team.”