Jacob Zylema, a freshman from St. Joseph, Michigan, is one of the three micro-electrical engineers of our ASC race crew. And with his passion for electronics and his declared major, computer engineering, he will be more than prepared for summer’s race. He remarks about the race’s challenges: “I think that WSC really showed that we have a car capable of winning, and that the challenge is primarily with making sure that we can rely on every last system in the car by race time. That means running test after test, and making revision after revision, until we have a product that deserves our confidence. ”

After Jacob attended one of the mass meetings in the fall and then started coming to the GTMs, he was hooked. He considers Solar Car the most rewarding thing he is involved in at Michigan. Some of his favorite memories are the core initiation scavenger hunt, ice skating with the micro division, and designing PCBs (printed circuit boards) at 3 A.M. Besides Solar Car, his hobbies include playing the saxophone and reading when time allows. His favorite movies are There Will Be Blood and Dr. Strangelove and his favorite music is without a doubt The Beatles. He also loves the book, Cat’s Cradle.

Jacob has been working with PCBs and has been writing code for them. During the race, he will be responsible for the maintenance of the car’s micro-electrical systems. Once Jacob graduates, he is considering graduate school and research and is happy at the moment to have so many opportunities to pursue.

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