Justin Foran 

Personal Introduction

My passion for this sport is something that started when I was seven and my dad took me to ride with his high school PAL (Police Activities League) mountain bike group which he ran. The exhilarating feel of descending a technical trail after a grueling climb was unmatched for me. On top of this, the thrill of chasing older riders who were faster than me through these trails fueled my love for the sport. As I grew older and became more involved with the sport, I started to understand the cost of mountain biking - the maintenance costs at the bike shop, the replacement parts, and worst of all, the bikes themselves, where a decent entry-level bike is upwards of eight-hundred dollars! I see this as a major limiting factor for the industry, but more importantly, the kids and adults like me who simply want the thrill of a rewarding ride while exercising and exploring nature, but simply can’t afford to spend that kind of money to try a new sport. This issue has fueled my dream to work in the mountain bike industry.

I discovered my passion for engineering while taking a physics class where I was able to use my math, research, and design skills and to create a final product. This, coupled with my desire to innovate in the mountain bike space led me to choose to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) this fall, where I will work to achieve a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Academically, I will focus on broadening my skill set by taking materials sciences as well as manufacturing processes classes to learn not just how to design something, but also about the materials I am working with as well as how it will be built. WPI emphasizes real-world experience and will provide me with the opportunity to travel in order to tackle real problems around the world. I hope to broaden my horizons through clubs as well as internships to become as well rounded as possible!

Goals

Academic

• Complete high school while maintaining my GPA.

  • Continue to put full effort into all my work, while accepting extra credit opportunities, and continuing to turn work in on time.

• Graduate WPI with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering

  • Carry my academic drive from high school into college while taking advantage of any extra help which may be offered to master the material being taught.

Professional

• Work for a mountain bike company which will allow me to innovate the sport to where mountain biking can become a more accessible sport.

  • Use skills learned in college, as well as knowledge from internships to redesign the bike as well as manufacturing processes to be able to reduce the cost to the consumer.

• Expand my horizons by branching out and finding new side projects to work on.

  • Real estate, specifically rental properties have also been of interest to me, so I hope to be able to use engineering as a stable career path while branching out into the real estate market on the side.