steve J06

Hi

My current career is in process development chemistry and process engineering. degree in chemistry, engineering by on the job learning. The economy has been beating the hell out of me and i've been laid off from 4 different jobs in the last 19 months. There is no end in sight as jobs go overseas to flee environmental and safety regulations as well as cost of labor. In reality, i'll be forced into a career change soon and am contemplating my options. I very much love cars and always have but came from a situation where it has only been in the past few years that i've been able to do anything more than the spectating or street car maintenance. After seeing the 24hr rebuild of the acura at petit lemans this year, I thought "now that's a cool job". So what would it take to get a job on an ALMS team? Hell, any racing team; and i don't consider nascar to be racing - only high speed mobile advertising. F1 would be a dream job.

Related questions: Do i need a ME degree? Bachelors or higher? racing experience? some kind of SAE mechanics license? Typical pay scale? typical hours?

my personal interest is in innovation and design. I have one patent and am currently working on another. My mechanicals skills are pretty good as i do all the maintenance on our cars (incl vettes) and house. If money was no object, i'd already have my own race team even if we finished last every week as it is just so technologically interesting. i've read all the 'lay' books (Smith, Aird, etc.) and am moving on to study milliken's vehicle dynamics and fluid dynamics next.

any help is appreciated.

steve

AU N EGL

need an "IN"

Honda Development is So Cal. http://racing.honda.com/hpd/about.aspx

F1USA is in Mooresville NC, heart of NASCAR country.

Penske in in Mooresville NC

or just Move to Mooresville NC

http://racecityusa.org/racing.html


Hours? how many hours are they in a week?

steve J06

that's exactly what i was afraid of....

Solofast

First you need to take a vow of poverty....

All kidding aside, there are a lot of folks that want to get into motorsports and without an "in" it is difficult to break into the sport and make a living at it.

For somebody young, IUPI here in Indy has a Motorsports Engineering program that will teach you a lot of what you need to know, but other than giving your services for free for some teams to build the relationships and get the experience you need it is going to be tough going...

Being an engineer already is a leg up, but there is a lot of practical experience that teams want to see before they spend money on you...

TLGunman

The industry is very 'incestous', if that is a word...yeah, typically you need to know someone. I got lucky. Another "in" is to volunteer for a team, lower level teams are short on funds, and will take volunteers. It gets you experience, and in the loop to make connections.

The hours on a team are long, forget about the 9-5, I've been at the shop 24 hours straight, and I'm not even on the race team. I do design work, cad jockey, etc.

The industry is also VERY slow right now, lots of people have been laid off, hours cut, teams disappearing. Not many openings right now, but at the same time a lot of dead wood has been cleared out, so when the hiring starts it would be a good time to get in.

I don't want to discourage you, just letting you know the facts. If you have specific questions, feel free to shoot me a PM, or ask in the thread.

Racer2B

You'll have to spend many years and be one of the best in motorsports (especially in the US) to think about making money engineering in motorsports.

You are better off becoming a great mechanic and working for your local BMW dealer

Stick with engineering, or try to go do your own thing. Maybe look into startup companies where you can work for equity/ownership?

You should have some good opportunities in your field with Chemistry being your focus...but it depends on your training and how good of an engineer you are to be honest.

I'm Mechanical Engineer (BSME from RPI) but now I am not involved in any engineering at all...and i've only been out of school for 4 years. I did race engineering out of school (money was lame), then did defense contractor and contract engineering (ok money, $25-30/hr). Then I decided I wanted out and I spent some time learning about business management/development via a friends financial firm (leading mutual fund and private management). Now I am own my own company developing my own brand of products and am growing it.

Don't be afraid to do your own thing. If you can afford to work for sweat equity and get ownership in an upcoming company behind a new technology/etc, go for it!

If you are truly a motorsport fanatic, maybe call companies behind the motorsport teams where you can use your expertise...i would not learn a new skillset just for a position in the field, unless you really did not like the field you are in now. Definitely a huge opportunity for chemists in motorsports. Fuels, Oils, lubrication in components, dampers, etc.

As for the "F1 Dream job" comment...talk to the younger engineering crowd in F1, see if they agree haha I had 3 friends who 'tried' F1 thinking it would be their dream job. Working 35 hours during your "off week" is not very fun when you have people yelling down your neck and 3 young gun engineers begging for your job to work for less.

steve J06

thanks for the honest answers, just what i was looking for.

steve