UNOH Turns Passion for Engines into Dream Job
Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2021
UNOH Graduate and Engine Power Co-Host Frankie Forman
Written by Communications Specialist Georgia Beard
Frankie Forman traveled from Westminster, Maryland to Lima, Ohio to get his hands dirty and learn about automotive technology. Frankie completed a small diesel program in high school, but did not have any automotive background prior to starting classes at the University of Northwestern Ohio.
“I was a little lost at first,” Frankie explained. “There was a big learning curve, but the information was there, it was readily available. And the hands-on training at UNOH is pretty much priceless.”
When attending UNOH, Frankie was not hesitant to dive in and get the experience he needed to learn the industry. Frankie also decided to get involved in the Motorsports Team to continue learning outside of the classroom.
The Motorsports Team, a university-recognized athletic team, encompasses a group of students who build, drive and crew race cars that compete during the spring and summer at dirt tracks around the region. A few of the team members specialize in building the engines for the team. This intrigued Frankie and that is what he set his eyes to do. “I basically just worked hard and kept trucking at it until I got into that group,” Frankie said. “And then from there, I just learned even more. Because the car stuff is valuable, but what interested me was the engines.”
During Frankie’s time building engines, the university started traveling around with students to tear down and rebuild an engine on stage during recruiting events. Frankie became a part of that team where he would fire up the engine, tear it down, put it back together, and fire it up again. While at Daytona International Speedway and Monster Jam events, Frankie was able to make invaluable connections in the industry.
Frankie’s involvement on the Motorsports Team, paired with his engine knowledge, landed him an opportunity of a lifetime. In 2020, Frankie moved to Tennessee to start a job with Engine Power TV and host POWERNATION shows.
“We make automotive television, but it’s more of a DIY television show,” Frankie clarified. “We try and get a lot of technical information across in the show.” Frankie is able to work on a variety of engine projects, from an engineer tearing down an engine and then doing custom work to building up an engine for a specific application. During the process, Frankie explains what they are doing and the science behind the method to the viewers.
“Almost everything that I know and that I can incorporate into this job were things that I learned or picked up while I was at UNOH,” Frankie exclaimed. “I would say pretty much 95% of what I know, I learned at UNOH.”
One of the major things that persuaded Frankie to complete his degree at UNOH was that the university was not centered around one type of racing. “There’s schools where you can go to learn only about NASCAR, but UNOH has well-rounded programs where they’ll teach you anything you want to know about any kind of racing,” Frankie said. “There’s so much that you can do and opportunities are pretty much endless because of the education you get.” And Frankie is using this knowledge to educate viewers across the country who are watching Engine Power as part of the PowerNation network of shows.
Category: Applied Technologies
Keywords: PowerNation, Engine Power, Frankie Foreman, Motorsports
