Ok, so im a senior in highschool.. and its time for me to start deciding what I want to do as my career. I know I know you can figure things out in college but I like to prepare ahead. So I basically have a passion for cars and competitive racing. has anyone chosen that as a career? or is it all hobby? alittle information or someone to point me in the right direction would be amazing

 

you might wanna think about engineering if you like math :-D

 

haha, I like the concept of engineering but I dont like math :X

 

"You don't need to love it you just need to do it"

If you can learn to speak Calculus go for the engineering, R&D can be a wonderful feild/experiance, but engineering is hard enough you need to have the determonation to go through with it.

However, I thinkt he more important thing to do would be, find a carrer you'd enjoy regardless of wether or not cars are invovled, thenfind a way to incorporate cars though who you work for.

For example if you like marketing then get an education in that, then sell cars for MINI. Its an automotive industry, so just find your feild within.
also teach yourself to turn a wrench, and get some instructed HPDE's then when you go to work for a car company you'll know whats going on.

 

course, seems like finding a good job in R&D is difficult right now :-D

 

I've taken four years of autotech and been an an apprentice the past two. I have the wrench knowledge Im just not sure what I want to do. I love the arts and cars/mechanical things. I would love to race as a profession but I have no idea money wise whats in it... It wouldnt matter terribly if it made a living.. but if it didnt that could be a problem.

in a perfect setting (job w/decent pay + free time(not to many hours) = track time and ideal situation. is there such a combination?

edit: finding a job I enjoy not involving cars is difficult haha. I could go for business, architecture, exc. theres plenty of stuff..However im in the search for options in what I love right now.. and chances are it will wind up being a hobby. which isnt bad but Id like more out of it.

 

Business, sopnsor ships on the weekends, get your name out there and if you're good at the track you may just have a shot.

 

well I still have alot of time (sorta) and thinking ahead
but thanks for your insite, its always appreciated by the lesser experienced

 

BTW I'm still not yet 20 But I did do a year of engineerign school and found I needed to change what I was doing to be happy with my life; now I'm in the process of building things up.

 

hey a couple years of experience can be a whole lot haha.

 

I would definitely go to a school that has racing/automobile programs. I did Formula SAE, which is a program where each school that participates designs a formula car for autocross from scratch, builds it and competes it. If you don't like engineering, you could be part of the marketing team, or work on cosmetic/user interface and interaction aspects of the car. There are also other programs like future truck, snomobile, baja vehicle, etc. These are great ways to make contacts in the automotive industry, and for formula SAE, it is great for getting contacts in the motorsports industry as well.

 

hmm interesting. I havnt investigated colleges much, do you happen to know any off the top of your head?

 

Good point, any school with a strong engineering program should have a decent SAE program.

 

is it your major? or just like a side class?

 

Extra curricular that also provides networking for a carrer after college
Take a look around here for more info about the organitzation, if anything I think you'll enjoy the info on the website.

 

oh wow, that does have a good amount of info thanks. is math REALLY that important to the engineering side in automobiles? even if your motor savvy?

 

Math is a fact of life because math is the language of science. tolerances timing rates of change, determining how things will change with temperature how that effects things, how air will flow inside the engine, assembly requirements and what clearnces are with those items. It goes on and on, but it is how and F1, NASCAR and Indy teams can have things setup almost perfectly when they go tohe track, and only need to make minor adjustments, or how an auto manufacturer can go to death valey and test their car and know it wont fail before it ever leaves the shop, what delays should be for airbags, how much force should the use, where to put crumple zones with different metals. It's how exhausts can be bent made to provide the most power with the least amount of sound, or the tine can be engineered. Its how a normal oil temp can be determined, and gauges set and chosen properly. A F1 team requires 16 full time engineers just to sart and drive a car; a motorcycle racing team will spend more than a month analysing the computer data recorded in one three test session. To get to the point to know how to figure all this out and make sure the computer is telling you the right this you need to be able to do math and have the engineering background.

However their are other parts of the automotive industry, marketing, the journalism and consumer reports aspect, artistry and desgin (arch nemissis of the engineers), human factors (how useable is the car for the average person); but the first people to drive the C6 Corvettes at the Nurburgring were engineers, working for Corvette, with extensive racing backgrounds.

 

math is math is math. if your scared of numbers, it's a bad thing. Calculus is just this fictious thing that is described in math. Or otherwise known as critical thinking. It's just like going in for a shot. You know it's going to hurt so you deside not to do it O_O. Try it and fail. It's better to try then never have tried at all.

 

im actually quite good at math when I do it :X its just boring and my mind goes to other things. im sure if I had a goal such as something to do with automotive engineering things would be different. im in pre cal this year ZzzZZz but I guess I need to learn to respect it :]

 

Use the SAE site, ask your teacher (a good one will help you) and do some searching ont he internet, see if you can find automotive related word problems and keep yourself motivated and interested. If you can apply it and enjoy the automotive part it will only help you in the long run. From day one of my Freshman (College) year on, all my courses expected a working knowlegge of Calculus to be applied to critical thinking.

 

I think about the only saviour out there is these new calculators. Which is quite nice when taking dynamics or statics.

 

First off.....NEVER EVER start something without the end in mind.....In other words ......Have a purpose!

Don't go to college until you know what you want to do....You will hear people tell you to go and figure it out.........But the world is FULL of people who did this, racked up student loans, wondered aimlessly through 6 years of college "deciding" only to come out with a worthless degree or go into teaching (not ripping teachers here, many of my friends are teachers, but you know who im talking about here)

Instead I recomend you intensely and intensionally explore carrers you might be intrested in....even if it is mopping the floors of a nascar team. wedge your foot in the door at some places. Find out things you like and dont like.....you will never again have this flexibility in life take advantage of it....and at the same time be saving all your money.

Then when you go, you know exactly what you want, you will have some real world experience and not just that theoretical stuff they teach and should be able make it through debt free, and you may even find an employer who will pay for your school....

But yes EXCELLENT math skills are needed for engineering degree.....and all that math that you get crammed full of........good luck finding an engineer 10yrs in industry who gen do basic calculus....unless you go to work in cutting edge R&D or NASA you won't use hardly any of what they teach you in school.....
But, there are programs that are more based in reality than theory. you may want to check out Olin college....I read an article about them recently in that they are very much project based....education without application is worthless.

 

As a current mechanical engineering major, I can tell you first hand that while the calculators are nice, if you don't know the material and how to analyze/set-up the problem, then the calculator is useless . Lately, my TI graphing calculator has taken a backseat to my trusty TI-25 basic scientific for average calculations in my statics course.

If you don't want to do the calculus because it seems like it doesn't apply to something automotive, then try to build a car from scratch with anything more than a lucky guess as to how it will perform .

Have you taken any skills tests, such as the ACT? These are very good starting points to determine where your skill can be used appropriately, and then applied to any field you want. The automotive industry involves WAY more than engineering and racing.

You could even do what I did: Graduated in May '99, went to school in the fall on an ACT-based 2-year scholarship. Rode that out, then went to work full-time to make a few bucks and take a break. Last year I bought my MCS, bought a house, and got married! Then, January of this year I decided to hit the books hard and wrap up my BS in ME. Is it the long way around? Yeah, I guess. Will I still get there? Without a doubt, and with great life experiences to boot! BTW, I just turned 26 last Friday, showing there's definately time to make a life decision about your career. And if you find the right career, then the time and money will be there for your hobbies .

 

The car industry is great and theres alot in it I know. Right now im just trying to figure out if theres a way to "race" proffessionaly. and make enough money to live/support a family when i have one

 

Well that is just a question of what kind of life you want....Most pros started very young and grew up racing go karts and grew up with some connection to racing. on the other end of the spectrum....Around here there are plenty of rednecks living in trailer homes taking thier camaros to the dirt tracks every week. They get to race every week

you are asking the right questions at the right time in life...IMO having a family means putting them first....meaning they get you best not your seconds or thirds. If you do intend to have a family You should not pursue ANY long term carreer track that takes you away from them on a regular basis....If you want to race or be a travelling salesperson...etc... in the meantime, fine, but that entire time you should be preparing for your whole world to change when you get married. .....So even if you did make it into real racing at this point in life, that lifestyle is not appropriate for wives and kids to recieve your best.