Hello, my name is Andrei, and I’m a senior at Elisabeth Irwin High School. My whole life I’ve always been extremely interested in the STEM subjects at school. In all my college supplements, I wrote about my passion for science, my strengths in mathematics, and how I discovered my interest in engineering from YouTubers. I have always loved anything that required me to really work my brain. 

From a young age, I was addicted to building LEGO. Even now, at 18 years old, I always ask for at least one LEGO set as a Christmas or birthday present, because the building and working process is therapeutic and really enjoyable to me. I love working with my hands and often will spend hours working on one LEGO project, just to pass the time. This love for building LEGO at a young age turned into my passion for engineering, specifically mechanical engineering. 

Since middle school, I’ve known that I wanted to declare some sort of STEM major in college. I’ve always been interested in math and science, and those subjects have always been my strong suit academically. However, it wasn’t until somewhere around my freshman or sophomore year that I realized I wanted to become a mechanical engineer. I didn’t have any remarkable discovery or realization that influenced my decision–I simply fell down a YouTube rabbit hole. One day after school, I found a video titled “Glitterbomb 3.0 vs. Porch Pirates“by Mark Rober. In the video, he designs a glitter bomb prank aimed at people who try to steal his packages. I found myself so interested in his process and design choices that I ended up watching more of his videos. I later learned that prior to his YouTube days, Mark Rober was a mechanical engineer for NASA and Apple. All of this is what inspired my passion for engineering. After taking a computational modeling class in junior year, I became really interested in coding and decided to teach myself (again through YouTube tutorials) how to code. When my phone camera broke during the quarantine my sophomore year, I bought a tool kit and took my phone apart to replace the camera. This led to me becoming the local “tech repair” guy. I’ve fixed computers, replaced internal batteries, and even modified some of my gaming controllers. These two things, building/fixing, which stems from my love of LEGO and doing things with my hands, and coding, which comes from my love of science and mathematics, are the reasons I’m so interested in engineering. 

My project centers around me building a go-kart. Now, this is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. So my goal isn’t necessarily to succeed but is more to find out how far I can problem-solve my way through building a go-kart. First, I intend to build some sort of motor-based go-kart However, I don’t actually know how motors OR engines work. Because of this, I plan to do extensive research about motors and automobiles, and from there I will work on building my actual project. Some resources I have access to are a building space – my basement – power tools – which will be lent to me and supervised by my building’s superintendent, the 3D printer and laser cutter in the LREI library, and possibly a scrap yard that I will have access to. I also intend to use all the online resources that I have access to; however, one thing I will try to avoid is using tutorials. I feel that using some DIY youtube tutorials will defeat the purpose of the project, however, should I ever get stuck, I do feel like I can use them for inspiration or to help me get unstuck, or if not that, a tutorial on a specific engine repair or a technique. Also, I can very much see myself getting stuck in the motor building/finding/connective process, and if it gets so severe, I plan on building a different kind of go-kart. if I really am not able to build a go-kart that runs on a motor or an engine, then I can use a simpler design using a gear and chain system. This will use pedals to move the cart, and will essentially work like a 4-wheeled bike. I have found detailed and extensive resources that will help me build my way through this type of kart as well. In conclusion, I will try my best with the resources available to me to build a go-kart, and should I fail to do so, it will at least be a learning experience, and I will have the chance to learn about a topic that I’m very passionate and interested in.