UNOH Grad is Restoration Specialist at Revs Institute
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2021
UNOH Graduate Pedro Vela at Revs Institute
Written by Communications Specialist Georgia Beard
Pedro Vela moved from Ecuador in South America to Virginia during his last couple years of high school. When he learned his new high school offered an automotive program, it was natural for him to take advantage of the opportunity. Growing up, Pedro was highly involved in motorsports. From fixing his own dirt bikes and mountain bikes to his father always exposing him to Formula 1 Racing. Pedro’s passion for all things automotive started young.
During his junior year in high school, a representative from UNOH visited his school and Pedro was immediately interested. “The really neat thing that I liked was that you can get the actual degree,” he stated. “It wasn’t like other schools where you’d just get a certificate; and I always wanted that.”
Prior to starting classes, Pedro was unable to visit campus and had to do a virtual tour to see the building and offerings of UNOH. He still remembers his first day of class in high performance welding and seeing the buildings and classrooms for the first time in person. “It blew me away to be able to see everything, that I was so emotionally happy to finally be able to chase my dream,” Pedro explained. “I actually didn’t know where it was going to lead me. I just knew that I wanted to go to UNOH, do the best that I could do in each class, and pay attention to everything.”
Formula 1 Racing was widely popular in Ecuador and Pedro grew up with a passion for Ferrari. Before graduation he had the idea of seeing a McLaren F1 while visiting his father in Florida. Through research he found Revs Institute, the largest archive of automotive racing history, in Naples, Florida. “I remember just leaving that day, sitting in the living room with my dad, just star struck and saying we didn’t know what happened,” Pedro recapped. “We had headaches from how intense each experience was.”
Once he returned to UNOH to finish his degree, Pedro reached back out to the Revs Institute to see if there were any future opportunities for him there. They were impressed with Pedro’s experience through UNOH and he landed an internship to see his level of experience working on the cars and if he fit in with the team. After proving his passion and work ethic, Pedro landed a full-time position as their Restoration Specialist.
Pedro’s role with Revs Institute is to maintain all the cars. A normal day of work is to pick a car from the list that needs exercised, which includes taking it for a ride and seeing if anything needs tuned or worked on. If there is an upcoming event, those cars will be the focus and will be prepared to be presented at the cars shows.
While maintaining these high-end cars, Pedro utilizes what he learned at UNOH every day, such as using a Bridgeport Mill and the proper handling of tools. “The integrity of being a trained technician, that I learned at UNOH through the different instructors, was worth it because you want to do a job well the best way you can do it,” Pedro said.
“In our world of motorsports, there’s so many areas of expertise, whether it’s motorcycle racing, motor GP, dirt bike, and even mountain bike. At UNOH you learn so many techniques that apply to any form of motorsports,” Pedro enlightened. And not just the different forms of motorsports, but even the different jobs within the industry. “There’s so many areas that you can go out and do something that you love after UNOH. Whether it’s being a fabricator, managing a race team, or becoming a service manager.”
Category: Applied Technologies
Keywords: Pedro Vela, Revs Institute, High Performance, Automotive
