Hello, my name is Grant Keller, I am 18 years old, and I am currently attending the School of Automotive Machinists and Technology in Houston, Texas. I am from Southern Oregon, and some of my hobbies include playing the guitar, lifting at the gym, and spending time with my friends and family. I love to work with my hands, whether it be welding or ranch work; I am always enthusiastic. My passion is working on engines. This was instilled in me growing up around my grandfather's machine shop. From a young age, I have always been fascinated by automotive engines. Around the time I got into middle school, I started to spend a lot of time researching and working on engines. It was also around this time that I started to spend a lot more time in my grandpa's machine shop. I thought it was amazing how my knowledge, skill, and patience went into the trade of machining. From watching him work on drag race motors to engines that would be put in classic cars, I knew that I wanted to pursue this industry as my career. As soon as I graduated High School, I packed up and headed down to Houston, eager to learn how to be the best machinist and make it in the racing industry, building motors. Unfortunately, earlier this year, my grandfather passed away from colon cancer. This time in my life was very hard on me. My grandpa was always someone in my life that I looked up to, not only for his wisdom in his line of work, but also in life. I was comforted by the fact that I was able to learn from such a wise man in my life. I was also happy to carry on his last name and his legacy in this amazing industry. So far, I have been in the engine block machining course, learning everything that goes into machining engine blocks and how every part and system works. Every day is a chance to master the skills of the trade and learn something new. I always strive to work my hardest and be the best in my Class. This summer, I will be taking the cylinder head machining course. This scholarship will help me with the financial tools I need to pursue this career path I have chosen, and eventually start my own business to continue to work in this trade that I love.

Hello, my name is Grant Keller, I am 18 years old, and I am currently attending The School of Automotive Machinists in Houston, Texas. At school, I am learning the ins and outs of being a great machinist. After graduating, I hope to start a career at Hendrick Motorsports. I believe this would be a great opportunity for me, as it would give me first-hand experience on how a performance shop runs its operation first hand. After gaining experience, my end goal would be to open a shop of my own. One of the reasons I would like to do this is to carry on my grandfather's shop. At a young age, I was inspired to go into this great trade by my grandfather. He owned his own machine shop, working on engines for drag cars and classic cars. Sadly, this year he passed away from cancer. While I was sad, I was also comforted by the fact that I learned so much from him and that I would be carrying on his last name and legacy in this industry. Secondly, I would like to start my own business to provide the best engine machining services there is to offer. Unfortunately, there is a lack of machinists nowadays who do quality work. I would love to be able to not only offer quality machining for a reasonable price, but also CNC production of not only engine parts but whole engines themselves. I believe the best way for me to be able to achieve this would be to have a section of my shop that only deals with the CNC and production side of things. This way, I could have an online storefront and potentially, in the future, do contract work for other companies, manufacturers, and even the government. The other section of the shop would be dedicated to performance engines. This is the part of the shop that would be dedicated to individuals and teams that are in the racing world. My goal would be to do work for NHRA pro stock, Top Sportsman, and other teams that outsource their engine work to American engine builders around the country. I believe that working with these teams and ensuring that I produce quality products for them will also help market my CNC side of the shop for others to give them confidence that my products are guaranteed to work and last. This scholarship will help me achieve these goals by helping me financially take the courses to put these plans into action.

Hello, my name is Grant Keller, I am 18 years old, and I am currently attending the School of Automotive Machinists and Technology in Houston, Texas, to become an automotive machinist. I chose to enter this industry because I thoroughly enjoy working on engines and have since a young age. Growing up my Grandfather owned his own machine shop. From a young age, I watched him build motors for drag cars and classic cars. It always amazed me how much skill and knowledge it took to work in this career field, and I knew early on that I too wanted to be a machinist. Earlier this year, my grandfather passed away from cancer. While this was a hard time for me, I was comforted by the fact that I had such a wise man in my life who gave me so much knowledge and that I would be carrying on his last name and legacy in this industry. This Scholarship would help me reach my goal of completing the cylinder head course this summer and go on to work for Hendrick Motorsports. It has always been a lifelong dream for me to work for a NASCAR team. This scholarship would give me the financial tools that I need to achieve that goal.

Hello, my name is Grant Keller. I am 18 years old, and I am pursuing a career as an automotive engine machinist. I am currently in school at The School of Automotive Machinists and Technology. This trade has always been something that has piqued my interest. When I was growing up, my grandfather owned his own machine shop. He worked on engines for race cars and classic cars. He was a genius in my eyes, the amount of knowledge and ability this trade takes to work with such precision within thousands of 1 inch amazed me. As I got older, I started to work on engines myself and even got the opportunity to build one with my grandfather in his own shop. From that point forward, I knew I was going to choose this trade to start my career in. Sadly, earlier this year, my Grandfather passed away from cancer, and this was a difficult time for my family and me. It also made me proud to know such a wise man in life, and that I would be carrying on his last name and legacy in this great trade. A person in the machining trade is always thinking. Here at the School of Automotive Machinists, you are required to not only know how every part of an engine works, but also the machining process behind making an engine run. Currently, I have been starting to test on the machines in the shop. This requires critical thinking skills that change depending on the situation. For example, the align hone is a machine used in the shop to hone the main housing bores to a specific size. This is greatly important as this size allows for the proper vertical oil clearance between the main housing bearings and the diameter of the crankshaft main journals in the motor. The Align hone also ensures that the main housing bores are perfectly round so the crankshaft journals can spin free without bouncing. Running this machine is critical in the machine shop, as all the other machines we use are located and fixtured off of the main housing bores in the engine. This is just one of the seven machines we use in the shop. Another skill I have been practicing that requires thinking outside the box is final assembly. Final assembly is when the Engine block has been fully machined and is ready to be put together. This process requires focus, attention to detail, and lots of engine knowledge. For example, when putting in the camshaft during final assembly, I have to degree it to understand how it is timed to the motor. This requires me to measure the opening and closing points on both the intake and exhaust lobes. Once I have done this, I will next find the centerlines of both lobes and their duration to determine where I need to move these points to make the engine run the best. My Plan for the future is to work for Hendrick Motorsports. After I finish my courses I am taking at my school, I want to enter the racing industry. I am currently in the block machining program and will be taking the cylinder head machining program this summer. I have already been coordinating with the school, as they help with job placement after your courses are complete. I firmly believe that with my Grades, Knowledge, and reputation at the school, I will fulfill my goal. If you were to call an adult in my life, I firmly believe they would recommend me for this scholarship. From a young age, my Dad instilled in me a great work ethic that I am proud of. I don't take this opportunity I have at this school lightly, and I always strive to be the best in my class. I stay past class every day, helping teachers and staff with anything they need to show how dedicated I am to the career path. I believe this behavior is noticed by those around me, and they would recommend me for this scholarship.