Thomas Gilbert is a student in MSU’s College of Engineering.
Ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with everything on the road: from the smallest hatchback to the largest semi-truck. One of my earliest memories is going with my parents to car dealerships while their car was getting serviced and walking through the showroom floors looking at all the new models available. I would read about the newest cars in magazines like Car and Driver or Popular Mechanics. This not only taught me about the vehicles and how they worked under the hood, but also how the engineers developed them. By the time I was looking for a college, I knew I wanted to be an engineer and work on the machines I had admired throughout my youth.
When selecting a college, I wanted a school that would be large enough to have not only the resources that would get me into the mobility industry, but also one that was large enough to provide the resources available to practice and develop my skills on projects. I learned about SAE collegiate teams after meeting my older sister’s coworkers during her college internship at Caterpillar and focused on schools that offered similar programs. I discovered Michigan State University’s Baja Racing Team with 40+ years of experience and continued support from major automotive companies, as well as from the university and College of Engineering. I joined the Baja team as soon as I could and have not looked back.
Today, as a third-year student in MSU’s College of Engineering I am working towards my dream of working in the mobility industry while also developing and practicing my engineering skills as a senior member of the MSU Baja Racing Team. By applying the principles of my coursework through the projects I work on, I can enhance my understanding of these core principles and develop further knowledge.
The MSU Baja team has given me the opportunity to explore different areas within mechanical engineering. It has given me experience in manufacturing and design, as well as testing and validation of our vehicle. Through my experience with the team, I have restarted the team’s data acquisition initiatives, which suffered over the shutdown the team experienced during the COVID pandemic. As the senior data acquisition lead, I work with my leads and the Chief Engineer to develop a lot of tests that confirm the part works for its intended purpose or for the overall full vehicle performance. We can use the data we collect to make educated decisions. With help from industry professionals as our sponsors, in addition to many of our professors at MSU, we have been able to revitalize our data acquisition projects.
Additionally, MSU has the home court advantage of having not only the big 3 domestic automakers recruiting its students, but also several large foreign automakers with large R&D centers located in the state. Due to MSU’s, and thus the Baja team’s longstanding support with these automakers, I was able to secure an internship with Toyota at their North American R&D Headquarters in Ann Arbor in crash safety.
My goal for college was to achieve a degree and gain the experience that would allow me to enter the mobility sector knowing what area I wanted to work in, for example, evaluation, design, project management or supplier relations. The relationships and experiences I have gained through the Baja team and my internship have given me insight into what I really want to do after graduation. Plus, they have prepared me for that position, giving me invaluable experience that I can’t get inside of the classroom.
