Motorsports Dreams Come True Through Mechanical Engineering
See how Purdue mechanical engineering student, Zachary Nelson, is putting in the work to turn a life-long passion for motorsports into an automotive career.
“I always thought racing was cool,” said Zach . “But it was at this point that I thought, having a career could really be possible,” he says. “I have my foot in the door. Let’s chase it and see where it goes.”
Transcript
00:00:00 Really my motorsports career started when I got kicked out of the house, because my parents got tired of me building stuff in their garage, essentially. I knew I wanted to go to an engineering school. I've always wanted to be a mechanical engineer. Like when I was five, I'd be like, I'm going to be a mechanical engineer. My dad was a mechanical engineer. Well, let's take a look at Purdue. And it was a match made in heaven. I have an opportunity for Motorsports at Purdue to partner with an IndyCar car team. It was at that point I really thought, you know, this could be possible. I have my foot in the door, let's chase it and see where it goes. -When you see racing on television, you see like a pit stop, you'll see, you know, four tire changers, a fueler, and then the race car driver, and a couple guys over the wall. That's just a small glimpse of what actually it takes to put the car on track and let it go
00:00:41 around. The interns have really come in to get the cars ready for testing and for the races and stuff of that nature, so it's really worked out well. -Definitely exciting and enthralled! You see the pictures online of white floor shops and white cabinets, but until you really step foot in one, you don't really fully understand the awe and the power behind it. At the beginning, they kind of had to get to know us, you know. It's like that at every shop, you know. They put you through the grunt work to see if you got what it takes. I mean, racing, it can be pretty grueling, so they kind of tested our resolve first. And then from there, I'm doing some data analysis. Pore through all the raw data, and look for trends, and time, and mile per hour data at tracks, looking for trends, like when's the caution going to come out, how long do the cautions last, that that type of deal. -I read the report and I was like, that's pretty
00:01:28 impressive! For someone who's not been in racing, and has not been an engineer, to put together that type of analysis, was pretty impressive. -Purdue really teaches work ethic. It's really the mindset is the biggest thing. Me and the other Purdue guys, we're in the thick of it, for sure. Motorsports has always been the tool that teams and auto manufacturers and stuff use to develop what's coming next. And so to be on the cutting edge of that is really awesome.