Yahoo Autos Jason Fenske, Engineering Explained: New Faces of Auto Enthusiasm
See the other New Faces of Automotive Enthusiasm.
Jason Fenske failed at his goal of becoming an automotive engineer. He had the proper skills. He loved cars. He was, as he admits, "bad at literature and writing and good at math." He earned a degree in mechanical engineering. But his dream did not come to fruition. "I worked for a forklift company," the 29-year-old says, laughing.
However, back in 2011, the summer before his senior year at North Carolina State, he started making YouTube videos demystifying automotive engineering principles for a lay audience. The videos were a hobby at first. But in 2014, he decided to quit toiling in the world of industrial hoists and dedicate himself full time to internet fame. His channel, Engineering Explained, now has 2.3 million subscribers and averages 6 million to 10 million views a month.
Fenske knows exactly why he's been so successful. "I credit my charm and excellent looks," he jokes. Really, he says, he just created something that he's always wanted to see himself. "Cars are the most complicated, expensive things that people will purchase. We buy homes, which are more expensive, but they're not nearly as complicated. So the car is this mystery, and I thought it'd be cool to have all the different components, all the different technologies, explained in a way so that all of us can actually know what's going on."
Fenske's videographic catalog is broad and varied, busting common myths about cars and examining everything from turbochargers to synthetic oil. But a few subjects remain difficult for him to convey. "Two that come to mind quickly are active torque-vectoring differentials and automatic transmissions," he says. "Their functionality isn't all that complicated, but verbalizing, simply, how they work has been quite difficult for me." He also stumbles a bit on battery-powered vehicles. "I skipped my electrical engineering course in college to be in the machine shop," he says. "Electricity, for me, is confirmed magic."
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