Six years ago, Ahmad Hares was a high school senior hoping his
dragster, Biocrypt II, would achieve what his 2008 car did not: first place
in Technology Student Association’s (TSA) Dragster Design competition.
Of course, TSA followers know that Biocrypt II came in a dead heat
with another car but set an event record in the tie-breaking run. That’s not
the big story for Ahmad now; the former winner had always dreamed of
working in the automotive or racing industries. In March 2014, that dream
came true when he became a CAE engineer at General Motors in Michigan.
The young engineer loves his job, citing the challenge of complex
problems as part of the reason; however, he is finding other elements of
the field just as intriguing.
“You can have people that are extremely skilled in engineering – and
they can focus on problems and find solutions – but it’s about bringing
all those problems together and all those people together to ultimately
build a car, which is a huge feat. There’s so many people involved, so
many moving parts, that it’s really an interesting field to be in.”
Ahmad’s work career started well
before he graduated high school. His
earlier jobs included working on boats,
laboring on a farm, and detailing cars in his home state of Florida.
“I’d work on beautiful cars like Bentleys, Ford GTs, Corvettes, and
Porsches. That really helps you appreciate what you’re working on.”
After high school, he attended the University of South Florida, but
he wanted work that would steer him in a more professional direction.
“So I got a job at a machine shop just to be there, learn how to make
things with my hands, and make things out of metal,” Ahmad said, though
he later helped the company with computer design on its consulting side.
After a year, he moved on to Transitions Optical, starting as an intern in the
Continuous Improvement area and becoming a production engineer.
“I had the opportunity to learn a lot of stuff about the production
environment, working with operators and technicians, research and
development, quality, logistics, supply chain, and all those different moving
parts that really help make a product happen,” he said. “Whether consciously or
not, I was grooming myself to understand the engineering field from all angles.”
Soon, other opportunities came his way. One of Ahmad’s high
school teachers and mentors, Richard Platt, said he remembered
going to dinner with Ahmad when the young engineer was choosing
between a position with Boeing and one with GM. Platt said he told
him that was a stupid question – Ahmad loves cars.
“I knew his passion was cars, and he followed his heart, which I
think is so important,” Platt said. “I’m so proud of him for doing that.”
TSA ROOTS
Success hasn’t gone to Ahmad’s head, and he hasn’t forgotten TSA and how it helped
him, citing that the TSA competition steered him to engineering when medicine had been
another possibility.
“The leadership part is what really attracted me. I could combine the functional skills
with the people skills,” he said. “Most engineers don’t have the best people skills, but I think
something that needs to be talked about more is that TSA, at least early on, can help build
the people skills that you need.”
All the skills he learned to make a winning dragster serve Ahmad well.
“Specifically for dragster design, our school and advisors encouraged us to use the tools that
were available to us,” he said. “We used SolidWorks for the 3-D CAD design; CFD, computational
fluid dynamics, which is like a virtual wind tunnel; and then CNC routers to manufacture the car, at
least the outside body. All of those things are relevant in every engineering field right now.
“From a functional perspective, those are very important skills, but to build the dragster you have to
use your hands, you have to understand that making something takes time and effort, and you have to
appreciate the quality of your work and how small things can affect the outcome greatly.”
Ahmad also competed in F1 for Schools and was part of a US-Germany collaboration team
that competed in Singapore, finishing seventh overall and second in collaboration teams.
Platt, who also comes from a work background with places such as the Johnson Space
Center and several software companies, agrees with Ahmad’s thoughts on TSA.
“What TSA does is replicate that professional world in the technology area. You’re always
busting your tail to get ready for a professional trade show or a new product,” he said. “TSA
is like that in the sense that when you go to state or nationals, you’re coming with your
best stuff to try to win. Those kids will kill themselves to get their projects done to go and
compete and win.”