Key takeaways:
Always help those just starting their career.
It’s nice to be able to drive the results of your work.
You never know where or when you will find another Purdue Boilermaker.
In 2014, I started a powertrain design engineering consulting department within Fairfield Mfg. (now part of Dana Corp.) with me as the only one working on this function out of the 1,100 employees. My first customer was Tesla Motors through my connection with fellow Purdue grad Ryan Boris. I spent parts of four months in late 2014 and early 2015 working at Tesla, mostly on site at Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
My work there was on the development of the Model S front drive gears and transmission. It was an interesting, challenging and most enjoyable time, although everyone there works extremely hard and expects the same of you. It was truly a great way to finish my long career as chief engineer at Fairfield, as I left Fairfield a few months after completing my work at Tesla. I then started Innovative Drive Solutions, LLC.
The way this came about was interesting. Over many years, I have often helped and served as a mentor to mechanical engineering students at Purdue University, mostly on the Mini Baja or Formula V programs, or on their senior project. Around 2010, I met and helped a senior student at Purdue, Ryan Boris. Years later, I ran into Ryan at a technical conference. He told me that he worked at Tesla and asked me if I wanted to help them. I said that I did, and he asked me if I could be there the following week.
That was my initiation to the world of work at Tesla and the very quick pace of it. Ryan is now the Geartrain Engineering manager at Tesla. But back then, he was my boss and client, a switch of roles.
I rarely get to personally experience the results of any of the projects and designs that I create. They usually are deeply embedded in another end product. I don’t own a hay baler, forklift, Victory motorcycle, or a piece of construction or mining equipment. But I do drive an automobile and a Tesla Model 3 is my main everyday car.
I get to experience the smoothness, silence, instantaneous response, and power of an electric car; and not just any electric car, but a Tesla — the best on the road. I now know what a significant car and car company it is. I had a wonderful opportunity when the company was younger to experience working there among some of the most intelligent and highly qualified people that I have ever worked with, especially Elon Musk. I cherish every minute of the time I got to spend there and consider myself fortunate.
I now realize every day how great a car it really is.
I take three lessons from my time at Tesla.
Always help those at a different stage of their career and especially those still in college, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because you never know where they might end up and how you can help them further in the future, or if they can help you.
It is very satisfying when you get an opportunity to directly experience an end product that you have worked on and had a hand in shaping.
You never know where or when you will find another Purdue Boilermaker.