As Washtenaw Community College prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary, we recognize
the thousands of alumni who turned opportunity into achievement. For six decades,
WCC has opened doors to education, careers and brighter futures — and these 60 Stories that will be compiled over the year reflect that enduring mission.
When Zach Van Buren enrolled at Washtenaw Community College in 2016, he wasn’t sure where his career path would ultimately take him. But his pursuit of just one question helped to shape his trajectory. That is, how could he simply walk away from a rather nasty car accident he’d recently experienced?
“I really didn’t have much vehicle knowledge. My background was in security," he said. "The fact that I walked away from a severe accident made me want to pursue vehicle safety and understand why I didn’t die.”
Van Buren's deep desire to understand and be a part of helping to protect other drivers and passengers has paved the road to a fulfilling career with Toyota Motor North America.
As a senior engineering technician in Integrated Vehicles Systems at Toyota Motors North America, Van Buren serves as the lead for benchmarking and evaluation development for TSS applications. In a previous role with Toyota, Van Buren helped develop advanced driver assistance systems, specifically focusing on cameras and lighting systems.
“At Toyota, safety has always been number one – not just for the people in our vehicles, but also the safety of those who occupy the road with us as well,” he says.
While a WCC student earning an associate degree in Powertrain Development, Van Buren interned with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), where he worked in the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment, helping vehicles communicate with each other and everything around them.
That experience led to a job at May Mobility, an Ann Arbor start-up in the autonomous vehicle space, and, eventually, to his current dream job with Toyota.
Van Buren studied business management at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration from Northwood University.
He is grateful for the opportunities WCC gave him through the college’s educational programs, industry contacts and guidance from mentors like Al Lecz, the director of WCC’s Advanced Transportation Center and a retired Ford engineer.
“There are more than just a few people I can name. Al is who I want to be like when I grow up. He’s the perfect example of being excited and staying up on technology, and he’s a lifelong learner,” Van Buren says.
Though he’s busy with his career at Toyota and pursuing an advanced degree, Van Buren continues to give back to WCC and its students, including serving as a Toyota mentor in the new Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) program with WCC, sharing his experiences and insights as part of Student Success Conference alumni panel discussion.
He is a community leader, too, serving as a judge for FIRST, a global robotics community.