From toy cars to the track: How a Purdue Engineering student Is turning passion into purpose
Fueled by a lifelong fascination with anything that moved fast, Runchen “Ray” Liang, a Purdue mechanical engineering student, is transforming curiosity into hands-on motorsports experience. From research labs to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he’s building the skills — and the community — that are launching him toward a future in racing innovation.
Growing up between Beijing and Scottsdale, Liang discovered early on that speed —whether in toy cars or real ones — captured his imagination. Engineering wasn’t a family tradition; his parents worked in finance, athletics, education and medicine. The closest link was a grandfather who designed harbors near Hong Kong. Still, being surrounded by advanced transportation as a child planted a fascination that stayed with him.
That spark became something more in high school. During his junior year, he wrote a research paper on the environmental impacts of a Formula 1 engine and the FIA’s sustainability efforts. The project pulled him deep into the world of racing. Soon he was following every Grand Prix and even built a statistical regression model for tire allocation for the Saudi Arabian GP as part of a math project. It was the moment he realized motorsports wasn’t just a passing interest — it was a direction.
His passion for racing and solving complex engineering challenges eventually led him to Purdue. He vividly remembers his first visit to Indianapolis, standing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track and feeling the goosebumps of a dream taking shape. Since then, he’s spent many weekends at IMS, learning from series like IMSA, GT World Challenge and IndyCar and absorbing everything the racing community has to offer.
While proximity to the track has been invaluable, Purdue’s Motorsports program and mechanical engineering curriculum have opened just as many doors on campus. Career fairs and industry engagement events helped him form meaningful relationships with peers and faculty. Those conversations eventually connected him with Reilly Rising Star Professor Babak Anasori, the Reilly Rising Star Professor of Materials and Mechanical Engineering — an opportunity he first heard about in an engineering seminar with Patrick Francis, associate director for Industry Engagement and Partnership in Purdue’s Office of Professional Practice.
Over time, he’s gained not only research skills but also mentors who support his goals.
This past summer, he jumped into hands-on work with mechanical engineering graduate student Jacob Patenaude, iterating on spin-coating design. Seeing classroom concepts come alive in the lab was a breakthrough moment — one that strengthened his drive to pursue opportunities in both industry and academia.
Purdue’s experiential programs have broadened his skillset beyond engineering fundamentals. Through EPICS, his Family Ark team taught him how collaboration, project management and prototyping come together when solving problems for real clients. On the Indiana School for the Deaf (ECHO) team, he learned web development, picked up both front- and back-end skills and saw firsthand how technical decisions shape a product that truly meets user needs. These projects have grounded his education in practical problem-solving and sharpened how he approaches engineering challenges.
Studying in Indianapolis while many classmates are in West Lafayette brings unique challenges, but he’s learned to view them through a constructive lens. Although distance can make it harder to attend certain campus events, it has also helped create a tight-knit, supportive community in Indy. The smaller environment fosters close connections, and he values how students show up for one another. He’s also learned to focus on what he can control and to trust that opportunities gained through meaningful engagement are more important than being everywhere at once.
As he continues growing his skills, he’s actively seeking motorsports and engineering experiences both locally and beyond. He’s begun building relationships with teams like Bryan Herta Autosport, ORECA Racing and Dallara, and he’s been exploring hands-on work with performance and tuning shops to further strengthen his abilities. Whether in the lab, the shop or the stands at IMS, he’s committed to turning what he learns into real-world engineering impact.
With every new connection and every lap he observes at the Speedway, he’s moving one step closer to bringing his classroom knowledge to the racing world — and one step closer to the career he first dreamt of as a kid holding a toy car.