Chris Scherzer

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A recruitment table in the Engineering building and an Indy Car wing was all it took to peak my interest. When I discovered the Genius Garage program, I had no idea what to expect. It was exciting, but I wasn’t sure this “crazy guy with a crazy idea” was seriously going to make an Indy Car team out of college students. I was a freshman at the time and the internship centered around cars, so I figured I would at least apply and see what this “Casey Putsch” guy was going on about. I am so glad I did. Because what I as a young freshman engineer at The Ohio State University had stumbled across in 2014 turned out to be one of the most influential internships and the two of the best years of my life thus far.

Over the next two years as a team member, I had the opportunity to learn many new things, even beyond simply working on cars. I had time to learn how to be a part of a great team as well as the opportunity to be a team leader. I worked on my professional development, having the opportunity to meet a large selection of influential mentors from many different industries, who all had their own advice on what to do in the future to get ahead and be successful in life after the internship and after college. I also had the opportunity to do many things I will never forget, like being trusted as a 20 year old crew chief to drive the director’s Viper as the team caravanned to Pittsburgh or walking the bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before actually competing there. I feel like I truly came out of my shell with the help of this program and learned tons of great skills like networking, taking pride in your work, speaking professionally, teamwork, respect for others as well as myself and of course technical skills like metal fabrication, electrical wiring, vehicle safety, and many others. I got the opportunity to work on some very cool projects over the years, all of which I am extremely proud to say that my work went into. While I talk to Casey and the members of the teams from both years of my involvement, I still look back fondly upon Genius Garage years one and two and think of all the great experiences. I can safely say that I would not be who I am today if it were not for Casey Putsch and the Genius Garage teams.