David L. Middleton, has always had a passion for Cars and Motorsports. As a child he became enamored with Porsche’s and he never lost that passion. He declared to his parents from that young age that he wanted to one day work in the German Automotive industry.
But getting there wasn’t easy. After attending MIT and majoring in Physics, he moved to Germany and tried to secure a job in the Automotive industry. He didn’t know the language or the people, but he had a dream. There were many days when he wanted to quit. There were many days where he wondered if all the hard work was worth it. His dream and vision seemed so far away, but he learned to persevere and kept going even when it hurt. So with little money but big dreams, he was determined to make it work, #sendit, and ended up landing a job with BOSCH.
Check out the follow-along notes, transcript and more details for this episode at GTM
- Origin Story / Mission – How did you get a love of motorsports & cars / engineering?
- How do you think MIE can help getting youth as fans of motorsports and/or into careers in motorsports? Is there a gateway into Formula SAE?
- What grade levels does this apply to? K-8, High Schoolers
- Females in Motorsports + STEM? How do we recruit/attract more into both? Does MIE help with this?
- It’s often overlooked by most people that use cars every day, there’s a lot that goes into them from engineering to chemistry, physics, aerodynamics, thermal dynamics, even artistry (interior/exterior design) so many different aspects – the list goes on and on. What is the curriculum like? Which parts is MIE focusing on? How are simulators being used as teaching tools? Driving physics, car setup?
- What types of platforms and tools are being used for the curriculum? (iRacing? F1, ACC, others?) What do you think about the future of sim and sim racing?
- You consult with clients on SIM rigs? We have a lot of SIM racers in the group, what would you recommend to be competitive for someone racing for more than fun? (budget, middle of road, money no object).
- and much, much more!
Today, David speaks fluent German and pushed beyond the day-to-day life of an ECU developer and was able to feed passion for motorsports becoming a Trackside Race Engineer at the Nürburgring. He and his family have returned stateside, and has started an organization called Middleton Innovative Education (aka MIE pronounced like pie) which is looking to revolutionize the way we teach and engage students in science, technology, engineering and math (aka STEM). The MIE program transform the eSports concept of gaming into a true STEM learning model!
