Engineer, SpaceX and Founder, ReachRak
Lane Levine sees the world differently than a typical engineer.听
He鈥檚 good at identifying problems and possible solutions, but he also has a strong sense of what makes an idea practical鈥攁 combination he attributes to the business minor he earned at Leeds.
鈥淭he people in business who I collaborate with have wild ideas, which is great鈥攂ut many of those ideas don't make sense, engineering-wise,鈥� he said. 鈥淥n the other hand, engineers often get to the point where they have a full product, but never stopped to consider whether there鈥檚 market demand. That's what鈥檚 great about the business minor鈥攖hat I can combine those two things and actually make something feasible.鈥�
Something feasible, in this case, is ReachRak, an in compact vehicles. Levine, who earned his business minor to go along with a bachelor鈥檚 in mechanical engineering, earned top honors in a capstone pitch competition judged by community leaders and entrepreneurs.听
鈥淣o matter your major, having a business minor is perfect, because it prepares you for any job.鈥�
Lane Levine (MechEngr鈥�21)
An avid skier who also played ice hockey at CU, Levine said ReachRak was born from personal frustration.听
鈥淚 would get to the mountain, get on my boots and everything, and then forget to pull down my skis from the top of the car,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then it鈥檚 hard to get your skis down without slipping.鈥�
The solution鈥攁 telescoping rack that folds down to the side of the car, allowing chest-height access to rooftop storage. He鈥檚 now doing some provisional patenting on the idea with the hope of moving forward with the idea as a side hustle as he pursues his dream of working in the automobile industry.
Levine pursued the business minor for its emphasis on entrepreneurship, a key point of distinction for the university and Boulder. Choosing the University of Colorado, he said, came down to 鈥渢he chance to be in a positive environment, to do things that can benefit the world鈥攖hat鈥檚 what brought me to CU as well as Leeds.鈥�
It鈥檚 a perspective he鈥檚 eager to bring to the real world. 听
鈥淣o matter your major, having a business minor is perfect, because it prepares you for any job,鈥� said Levine, whose own career search has begun in earnest now that the capstone competition has concluded. 鈥淗aving this broad knowledge of how the business world works will be very beneficial to me, both as an engineer and, hopefully, an entrepreneur.鈥�