XLIX

Engineering Design Firm

9201 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28223

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November 7th, 2015

1201 011
Professor Harkins
Shelby Benton
AJ Mennuti
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Whole Life Paper

AJ Mennuti

ENGR 1201-011
Professor Harkins
November 7th, 2015

Introduction

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This paper will contain detailed information on why it is my goal to become a professional engineer. The
whole life concept model will be used to prove that my career choice is for the right reason. The research
and refection that I have done will be outlined to show how I came to this important life decision. This
project is put in place to ensure my goals in college fit the engineering communities purpose. I have
researched almost every aspect of my career, from the next few years in college to the next 50 years of my
life in the workforce. I have spoken to the motorsports and engineering department staff, several active
professional engineers, chairpersons in charge of hiring engineers, and even retired engineers with the
ability to reflect on their career. If I could choose my professional outcome it would have to be a head
project design engineer for a competitive international automotive company. I would like to have worked
my way up to become one of the most trusted and knowledgeable engineer at said company.
Passion
My passion stems from my earliest memories as a child. I live in a small farm town were the only thing to
do is watch the races at the local dirt track. You either work at the track or you are there on Saturday
nights to support your favorite competitor. After I saw my first race at the age of eight I was enamored.
The next day, I took my grandfathers Acura out for a test run around our house. I realized two things, if
I ever did that again I would get kicked out of the house and it wasnt the driving that had such an effect
on me. Henceforth, I wasnt simply addicted to the few minutes of adrenaline from the drive; I was
addicted to the theory behind the drive. Many people would have fell in love with driving the car but I fell
in love with improving how the car drives. Why did the car slide out the way it did? How can I get the
brakes to function well under stress? How can I improve traction? How can I make this car more
efficient? As odd as it may sound I had a strong connection with the machine, almost as if I could read it
like a book. Every sound it made or problem it had I found myself trying to understand it better than
anyone else had before. From that day on I swore to myself I would work with automobiles. At that point
I found my passion.
To this day almost every thought that runs through my head involves mechanics, or more specifically
motorsports engineering. I can go on for days about how this controls my life but I will summarize briefly
by stating, I either work around cars or I dont work at all. Being that I have always been sure about my
passion, I plan to enhance my ideas about this career choice in college.
I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of influential people in my life, specifically my grandfather and
my father. I have a tattoo on my chest of my grandfathers last words, and the values I live by, to my
father before he past. It reads When you are lying on your death bead it doesnt matter how much money
you have made or objects you have acquired, all that matters at that moment are the people around you
and the ease of mind knowing youve lived a life of happiness. My grandfather worked as a prison guard
up to the day he died, and he loved every second of it. He never wanted more money, higher status, or
anything else that ultimately lead back to greed, for whatever reason that was his passion in life. My dad
always told me find something you truly love and do it for the rest of your life.
These two men instilled specific principles that I adhere to every day. First, never be greedy. Many people
are in the engineering program because they hear it is the best paid. In my experience that mindset only
leads towards your downfall. Throughout my life I have worked on dozens of peoples vehicles and
researched several different ways to increase practicality all for no cost. I do it because thats what I need
to satisfy myself not because I want to be rich. Moreover, engineering is probably one of the hardest
majors you can take in college; most people cant even get through it. However I will stay up for three
days straight, trust me I have done it, in order to stand out for a job thats four years away. There is no
doubt in my mind that motorsports engineering must be my career. After all when you want to succeed in
something as bad as you want to breath, you have found your passion.
Impact

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I come from a low-income home and I can remember numerous times when we simply could not afford to
have a vehicle. This made my mothers life incredibly difficult. I will strive to impact the availability of
automobiles so that fewer families will have to go through similar times. This can be specified to the
price, fuel economy, and safety of vehicles. I believe I can use my future knowledge and dedication to
drastically improve these areas.
Fuel economy is a huge focus of almost every motor vehicle company in the world right now. However, I
believe there are other ways to go about this serious issue. Where every company is investing millions of
dollars in electric cars and hybrids, they are simply driving up the price of the vehicles. A basic hybrid or
electric car goes for twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars (Carty). That defeats the overall purpose of my
main goal of availability. I believe I can move the focus to vehicles containing a much smaller engine that
would burn much less gas. These small four cylinder engines are incredibly easy to mass-produce which
will drive the price down substantially. This idea of a simpler gas engine will essentially kill two birds
with one stone. It will decrease the gas consumption of the car so that it will compete with a hybrid while
lowering the price so a family can afford it. It will become my goal to find the happy medium between
price and fuel economy so that everyone can benefit.
Furthermore, safety is a huge concern to everyone from the manufacturers to the customers. There are
several new safety mechanisms being put to the test in vehicles everyday. However, we are brought back
to the same initial issue of availability. The more advanced that the safety technology becomes, the more
expensive it is to apply it. I am going to stem my research away from crazy expensive technologies and
work with areas that arent too hard to implement on a large scale. I think it is possible to construct a
more efficient aluminum frame that wont fracture in large-scale accidents. Aluminum is one of the
cheapest metals to manufacture and works as a fantastic barrier between the driver and the accident. I
would like to use my passion in the automotive industry to once again find that happy medium where
people can feel safe in their vehicles without paying over the top prices.
Global, societal, and contemporary issues are constantly affecting my passion for the automotive industry.
People rapidly change their minds on what they are looking for in a vehicle based on what the trends or
restrictions are in the world around them. The advancement of technology, demand for a higher
performing vehicle, and the current gas prices are all taken into consideration with the most scrutiny.
Technology is said to never stop advancing and it becomes a cutthroat race in the automotive industry.
Consumers love new technology: it becomes a bragging right to have the vehicle with the most innovative
systems. Car manufacturers are constantly working to outdo one another based on how advanced they can
make their vehicles. This directly affects me because in order to be competitive in my field I have to
develop the coolest new gadget to apply in my project. For example, on December 23, 2014 Google
released the first car ready to be tested on the road that will drive itself (Deepanshu). Not to mention
Toyota released a statement that they assigned their best research team to develop a functioning hover car
to be put on the market (Deepanshu). These new technologies can completely change the spectrum on the
projects I am going to be working on in the future.
To be the best asset of my future employer I will need to compete with the trends of the market, in this
case performance. Once again with the bragging rights, consumers are focusing on high performance
vehicles. It may not be necessary but the industry for supercars is booming. This massive urge for the
fastest car came from the release of Dodges supercar, The Hellcat (Wayland). Upon the release of the
most powerful, and incredibly reasonably priced, car people went nuts. Consumers quadrupled the order
quota and would do anything to get their hands on it. This sent other international manufactures for a race
to develop a car to compete with the hellcat (Wayland). Being that this car is so innovative and filled with
new design, my future career will most likely put me in the race to create a better car. All major car
companies are desperately looking towards their engineers to create something of equal or greater value.
It will be necessary to aid my future employer in this battle of performance.

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Gas prices are the constantly fluctuating, yet they are the most influential factor in the demand for
vehicles. The automotive industry saw the demand for hybrids skyrocket when gas prices were over four
dollars last year (Carty). However, now that the gas prices have dropped so low, hybrid values are down
23.5% since their peak last summer (Carty). When people arent worried about spending money on gas
they are willing to spend more money on something they see necessary, such as an SUV. This rapid
variability leads to a huge demand for engineers who can work fast to appeal to the publics needs. When
the gas prices are low, you release less fuel-efficient vehicles that will draw the publics attention towards
its other great features. When the prices are high you revert back to appealing to the publics need for fuel
economy. This mindset is important for me to understand when I am looking to Impact my engineering
field. I must be able to understand multiple applications of vehicles, but most importantly I must be able
to understand the publics desires.
Knowledge, Application, Skills and Abilities
Engineering is a selective and competitive career so it is important that I develop a strong set of
knowledge, skills and abilities. It is vital for me to excel in many soft skills including communication,
ethics, analytics, leadership, dependability and teamwork. These are the skills employers will look for in
me to insure I can fit into their company and become a strong asset. I will also be required to have several
professional abilities including Computer Automated Design (CAD) expertise, strong technical
understanding, widespread mechanical background knowledge and vast technological proficiency. I am
expected to be fluent and accurate in these abilities so that I can pull my weight in a companys project
necessities. Also, I am expected to have acquired a strong foundation of general knowledge throughout
my college career that a company can build on and form me into their ideal employee.
I am majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in motorsports. I have always been positive
that this will be my major, but this reflection using the whole life concept has solidified my choice even
more. I have come a long way and risked a lot to attend college for this major. I always had a gut feeling
that this is the best life choice for me but I now understand why. Everything I do reflects how passionate
about motorsports engineering I am and this major will open up countless opportunities to put my passion
to good use. I could waste my life away simply working as a mechanic in my hometown and be
reasonably content with that. However, now that I am in this program I understand that I can use my love
for the industry to better the lives of others and myself. My degree will open up doors so that I can
become a key asset to the automotive industry.
In this field it is simply stated that my passion is soon to become my career, and with that mindset I am
setting myself up for a life of purpose and happiness. As I said above I know that I need to work around
this industry, so it is only right that I make the best out of myself and become a motorsports engineer.
There are several courses in this major that are vital to obtaining the knowledge necessary to be
successful. Thermodynamics and Heat transfer are important so that I can understand the function of
engines and brakes when put to the test of high function, or heat. Physics and calculus courses will also
play a huge part in my major because I will need to be able to create the specifications of a design with an
idea of how they will play out in the real world, these courses let me set up the proper equations. Not to
mention my junior and senior designs that will give me the experience of actually working on a design
team and use the programs necessary, such as CAD, to create a product. Finally my motorsports technical
electives will give me the specified experience to be a competitive employee in an automotive company.
This major is giving me the background education needed to impact the world, as I want to do. I can take
this knowledge and experience into the workforce and use it to better the lives of the general public.
To achieve my desired impact I will need to take road vehicle dynamics advanced CAD, and automotive
power plants. These courses are the more specific, hands on courses that will teach me the actual design
aspects of my career. I will need the knowledge on how vehicles work on the road down to the last bolt to
be able to design a vehicle that is widely available, practical, and cost efficient for the public. These

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courses are essentially in place so that I can understand the design process well enough to apply it in the
world and in turn reach my desired impact on it.
In the application ring of the whole life concept model it is clear that communication, ethics, and
teamwork are a huge part of an engineers life. This being said I would like to focus on these soft skills to
better myself and prepare for my career. First, I will use my internship with Stewart-Haas racing to get
some experience in conducting myself like a professional engineer. I plan on learning from the other
engineers I will be working under, I will watch how they act in certain situations and ask plenty of
questions in order to carry myself as those with experience do. Then I will attend Lockheed Martins
recognized leadership school. This school teaches its students all about the skills necessary to be a
proactive member of a team and introduces several different forms of professional decision-making.
Finally, I will have an interview with Don Schumacher, the man who hires all the engineers for his 8
NHRA professional drag racing teams. I met Mr. Schumacher through my cousin at one of his races, and
he instilled a few quick hints about the soft skills he looks for in his engineers. I would get a much bigger
picture of exactly what type of soft skills the top racing team in the country looks for when hiring
engineers. These sources will solidify my experience on the non-technical side of engineering. With these
skills I can finally impact the professional world as a well-rounded, stand up engineer.
Reflection and Conclusion
My passion is to be able to spend the entirety of my life working in the automotive industry. I know in my
heart that I was meant to fulfill my dream and I will do anything possible to live it out. I spend every day
thinking about how I can do my part in the world through my love of motorsports engineering. I will use
my desire and dedication to take part in the progression of the automotive industry. It is my goal to
increase the availability of vehicles to those who need it most. I will do my part in history to discover the
next generation of human transportation.
The whole life concept model ensures that I am partaking in the engineering program for the right
reasons. The model proved to me that engineering is not all about how technologically accurate you are. It
is also very important that an engineer has all of the basic soft skills necessary to be an active member of
the workforce. Also, I now have a much better understanding of what my passion could do for the rest of
the world, not just myself. I know that my future goals are not just about making cars go fast, rather about
how I can improve vehicles for everyone to take advantage of. Finally, I am able to plan out my college
career with more precision. I actually looked at what courses are necessary to be the best engineer I can
be.
The model is important to me because it provides a guideline to how I should reflect on my career choice.
I have put in a lot of time reflecting and researching my major and I will have to say that every second
was worth it. I can now understand exactly what the engineering community means to my future and me.
This assignment has further solidified my choice of major. After all of this research and reflection my
perception of motorsports engineering has led me to be more attracted then before. I am now positive that
this major is what I was meant to do with my life. Although this is one of the most demanding majors in
college my passion is fueling me to get the degree. Not to mention this assignment has given me a clearer
picture of how my future will play out. All of the interviews and conversations I have had with
professionals have given me the ability to understand the impact I would like to make in the world and on
myself in the future.
My commitment to the motorsports engineering program is much stronger upon the completion of the
whole life assignment. Before I spent the time preparing and writing the whole life paper, I chose this
major simply off of a strong gut feeling. It is safe to say that now I actually have a solid reasoning for my
career choice. I have looked at all possible applications of my major in my future and I am one hundred

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percent satisfied with every outcome. I feel that without this paper I would be unable to complete the next
four years with absolute certainty.

I have neither given nor received any unauthorized help on this assignment, nor witnessed any violation
of the UNC Charlotte Code of Academic Integrity.

11/07/15

References

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Carty, Sharon. "Demand, Prices for Used Hybrid Vehicles Fade as Gas Costs Less." ABC News.Accessed
November 5, 2015. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7019334&page=1
Deepanshu, Tomar. "Top 10 Innovations in Automobile Industry in 2014 - The Economic Times." The
Economic Times. December 23, 2014. Accessed November 5, 2015.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/news/auto-technology/top-10-innovations-inautomobile-industry-in-2014/articleshow/45688058.cms
Wayland, Michael. "Demand Fuels Bigger Plans for Dodge's Hellcat." Detroit News. August 18, 2015.
Accessed November 5, 2015.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/chrysler/2015/08/17/dodge-hellcat/31891061/