Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Presidential Conversation with Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe ’05

BrayBay · Oct 4, 2024

Seems like RJ has been on a media campaign recently. This time, its from his alma mater Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. If you've seen the other videos in the past two weeks or so, there's a lot of the same talking points about the company's founding, mission, and challenges. So, I will just add in the interesting points that's new (at least to me):

A lot of the Scaringe family are alumni of RPI (RJ's dad and brother)
RJ's first car was a Volkswagen Corrado
His Ph.D thesis was on making combustion engines more efficient (Extension of the high load limit in the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition engine, I had to look it up) and completed his Master's and Ph.D in 4 years.
The CEO of Magna (contract vehicle manufacturer) met RJ early on and believed Rivian had the best shot out of all the EV startups at the time.

Always a good watch/listen, even if some points are repeats. There's some good advice in there about having good relationships and connections throughout your life too.

COdogman · Oct 4, 2024

RPI is much better than its real name.

Katsudon · Oct 5, 2024

RJ's a good dude. Easy guy (and hence company) to root for.

moosetags · Oct 5, 2024

Kudos to RJ. He is one really impressive dude.

Brian

Electron · Oct 5, 2024

Glad he dodged the Magna trap. They're the ones that make the rubbish Jaguars and the ones who made Fisker. Abysmal.

Rivians build would not be the same if Magna were to be in the picture. It'd be a flop waitng to happen.

It's a nightmare to even think about the what if.

We're lucky and fortunate that Rivian is cooking its own meals in house, rather than a 3rd party whos worse than a $1 frozen dinner.

UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan · Oct 5, 2024

Corrado... damn. I almost bought one back in the day.

Mazda spent years trying to make ICE more efficient. Most recent effort, high compression spark assisted ignition (like diesel engines but with gas). After much hype, and already limited funds spent, the final payoff was marginal.

Thedude · Oct 5, 2024

UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan said:
Corrado... damn. I almost bought one back in the day.

You should've, they're great. Wishing I had kept mine after seeing what they sell for now.

UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan · Oct 5, 2024

Thedude said:
You should've, they're great. Wishing I had kept mine after seeing what they sell for now.

I had a hard time finding them. And the one I found, I backed out of the sale after discovering the vehicle's history (stolen a few times and thrashed). Ended up getting a Mk3 GTi VR6.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Presidential Conversation with Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe ’05

BrayBay

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COdogman

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Katsudon

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moosetags

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Electron

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Thedude

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