Engineering graduate’s opportunity to design race car at Liberty helped him secure job with General Motors

Editor’s Note: Throughout the summer, Liberty News will shine the spotlight on members of the Class of 2020 leading up to Liberty’s 47th Commencement on Sept. 11-12. As seniors, this class had the exciting privilege of leading Liberty into a new decade — and then met the challenge of completing their degree during a pandemic. Through it all, they have made us proud. They are marching onward as true Champions for Christ, entering their chosen fields equipped to be world-changers with a renewed hope for the future.

Congratulations Class of 2020!  #LU2020 #LUGrads

Over the course of his four years at Liberty University, Emrik VanderMark (’20) said a series of providential events, including leading a team of students who built a Formula One style race car, awakened a passion for the automotive industry and, as a result, he accepted an offer to work as an engineer with General Motors (GM) after graduation.

VanderMark graduated in May with a degree in mechanical engineering but was not sure at first that he wanted to be an engineer. He had dreams of working for NASA or SpaceX someday, so he settled on the School of Engineering and he initially struggled with his own determination.

“I was just going to class and leaving and didn’t really want to get super involved in the engineering department,” he said.

That all changed during his sophomore year after meeting with his advisor, Dr. Hector Medina. VanderMark said Medina took the time to mentor him and help him understand the opportunities that existed, not only at the School of Engineering but also in the overall field.

“Dr. Medina showed me what being an engineer can look like, and that was a huge transformative experience,” VanderMark said. “I really saw a change in my performance and also in my enjoyment and understanding of engineering.”

VanderMark’s newfound enthusiasm led him to join the Liberty Motorsports Baja SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team as a sophomore, working on the construction of an off-road vehicle. During his junior year, he was encouraged by a friend to join the Formula SAE team, where he served as the team lead for the powertrain and brakes subsystem on the open-wheel, Indianapolis 500-style race car.

The Baja SAE and Formula SAE are separate competition teams that involve students from universities around the world designing and fabricating vehicles and competing in events that test the speed, durability, endurance, cost, and creativity of the off-road and Formula SAE cars.

“I dove headfirst into research and tried to learn as much as I could because, truthfully, I knew nothing about cars — absolutely nothing. I learned about the different systems on a vehicle and, over the course of the project, I was able to design most of the braking system, which was a really cool experience.”

The summer between his junior and senior years, VanderMark worked with a global engineering firm in Arlington, Va., designing Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems for large commercial and residential buildings. Although he enjoyed it, he was looking forward to a slower-paced final year of college.

Then the Formula SAE team captain got an internship and asked VanderMark to take over. After praying about it, he decided to step into that role and, under his leadership, the team began manufacturing Liberty’s first Formula SAE vehicle. (The process was halted due to COVID-19 distance learning restrictions, but VanderMark said the team will finish the vehicle in the fall and compete during summer 2021.)

“That experience gave us the opportunity to apply what we’d learned. We worked with a budget, with faculty, outside companies, and some Lynchburg businesses that manufactured some of the car’s components,” he said.

Through his time on the Formula SAE team, VanderMark said he learned more about automobile racing engineering, and after attending the Formula SAE competition in Lincoln, Nebraska, in June 2019 and interacting with companies like Tesla, Ford, and Honda at the race, he began to consider career opportunities in the automobile industry.

In September 2019, thanks to the generosity of Hendrick Motorsports and owner Rick Hendrick, who have been lending support to the Formula SAE team, members took a trip to the General Motors’ Milford Proving Grounds and manufacturing facility near Detroit. Students were given a behind-the-scenes tour, including the design facilities and the tracks where new vehicles are tested.

“That was definitely the game changer for me,” recalled VanderMark. “When we got back to Liberty from that trip, I decided to apply for a job at GM.”

After moving through the hiring and screening process — applications, phone screening, and two video interviews — VanderMark got an offer from GM in November and moved from his hometown of St. Louis, Mo., to Detroit in June to start his new job as a development engineer in the Chassis and Active Thermal Management division at the Milford Proving Grounds.

“They start all of their new hires in a rotational program, so I will have four rotations over two years; it could be at the proving grounds doing vehicle testing or more engineering at their tech center, or I could do power train and transmission development. I am excited to work at an incredible company like that and hopefully start a long relationship between Liberty and GM.”

VanderMark said the Formula SAE team was a tremendous learning experience that changed the entire course of his life.

“If I would have been able to see myself in the future my freshman year working on the Formula car, I would have thought, ‘What is going on? How on earth did this guy get there?’ I could have never made any of this happen myself — it could only have been possible through the Lord.”