My first car was a 1970 Chevy Nova. As one of several children in a family on a limited budget, the agreement was that our father would pay for our first car, and we would be responsible to maintain it. Of course, the cars were all clunkers that required continuous repair.

I grew up in Warren Michigan, surrounded by the automotive industry. The local school system had us drafting fixtures by the 7th grade and rebuilding engines by the 10th grade. My friends and I worked at an auto parts store and would often purchase any parts we could afford and replace them on our clunkers, whether it was needed or not. The goal was to slowly restore whatever we could.

I spent much of my teen years lying under this Nova replacing old parts. Upon inspection of a worn component, I visualized how I would design this part to be more robust. This was a pivotal moment in my dedication to automotive engineering. I got an engineering degree at Wayne State University and have been designing auto parts for 25 years now. As third generation auto industry, I was born and bred to work in a field that I love.

Steve