Marketing and Racing: SJSU Fuels Passions with Interdisciplinary Opportunities

You could say that cum laude graduate Robine van Veen's path to San José State University was serendipitous. While attending middle school in Hamburg, Germany, she used to watch "a day in my life" and "dorm tour" vlogs by YouTuber, Kris Hui, '20 Marketing . She recalls wanting to go where Hui was, though at the time she had no idea it was San José State.

"I found [Hui] again last year when a video was recommended to me, and realized all of the vlogs I grew up loving were about her at San José State University! It was a big full circle moment for me," says van Veen, '26 Marketing, and a sSring 2026 President's Scholar.

While considering a transfer from the University of Amsterdam and a change in major to business, van Veen's research led her to "amazing reviews" of the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business. She also appreciated how SJSU as a whole encouraged interdisciplinary learning, a facet that encapsulates the imprint she's leaving behind as a transfer student-turned-graduate who merged her aptitude for marketing with the intricacies of racing.

Every race has a starting line

Van Veen says it was her father's love of cars that naturally passed onto her and fed the creative passion.

"I've always found go-karting exciting growing up, which led to me buying a manual car later when I got my license," she says. "Formula SAE felt like a natural next step when I started college."

In October 2023, she joined Spartan Racing as a business team member. Spartan Racing is a collegiate design team that designs, builds, and manufactures an electric formula-style open wheel race car and additionally is the student chapter of SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers) at SJSU.

To perfect her balancing act, van Veen created class schedules that allowed her to finish classes and work hours in the morning and early afternoon. She would then spend the rest of the day with Spartan Racing. On weekends, if she wasn't with the team, she was studying.

Van Veen transitioned into her year-long tenure as Spartan Racing president and business lead in June 2024. She was soon handling competition logistics, speaking to sponsors and university contacts, creating marketing campaigns, setting the direction of their communications styles, and running events like their Day of Giving fundraising campaign that raised nearly $30,000 that year.

One of her role models within the team was the president who preceded her, Patrick McGowan, '24 Philosophy, who she says connected really well with all stakeholders and treated everyone equally.

"He had creative ideas, and was very encouraging to new and current members," she adds. "I remember wanting to uplift people the way he did."

She realized, too, that her upper division classes proved helpful in her roles with Spartan Racing.

"I learned a lot about targeting your communication and segmenting your audiences, which I used to re-approach the way we communicated to and with our sponsors and supporters," she says. "We created different communication styles for each of our social media channels and the mailing list, which led to us better connecting with our audiences. It made it a lot easier to reach our goals."

The drive to succeed

When it came down to the motivation to excel in her education and the team's pursuits, van Veen credits her goal-oriented mindset. Furthermore, she remains committed to always learning as much as possible.

"When I put my mind to something, I want to do it and I want to do it well. What really motivated me was seeing how much impact I could make in two areas I'm really passionate about: marketing and cars," she says. "Being surrounded by other people on the team who were just as passionate and driven was also a constant motivator to keep pushing myself. Every success was another reason to keep pushing myself further."

She notes that opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary learning at the Lucas College and at SJSU have been one of her favorite things.

"It let me meet people I may not have met otherwise, and it continued to push me to keep learning more about as much as I can," van Veen says. "I would have never learned how to weld or how the suspension works on a Formula car, or even just about thermodynamics, for example, but I'm grateful that I had the chance to."

Gary Castro, adjunct professor of marketing, found van Veen to be an exceptional student who approached tasks with intention and rigor, producing work that reflected careful thought, thoroughness and high standards.

"As a peer leader, she earned the respect of her colleagues not by directing them, but by elevating them," Castro says. "She challenged processes and ideas that others accepted at face value, asked the harder questions, and refused to let the group settle for good enough when stronger outcomes were within reach."

What distinguishes van Veen the most, according to Castro, is her integrity.

"She holds herself to the same exacting standard she brings to collaborative work, and that consistency built a foundation of genuine trust among everyone she worked with," he says

Putting her career in gear

Van Veen began a marketing internship in the summer of 2025, which was extended and lasted roughly six months. She has since accepted a full-time offer with the same company and begins her new role as a public relations associate this summer.

"I'm excited to keep applying the theories and concepts I've learned in class and at Spartan Racing at my new job, as well as to keep experimenting with new and unique ways to execute marketing campaigns," van Veen says.

Her ultimate professional goal is to become a chief marketing officer for a racing organization or an automotive company.

In a sector like racing, which remains male-dominated, van Veen's suggestion is to never let anyone tell you that you cannot do it or are not good enough.

"A lot of people may try to convince you otherwise, but you have to trust in yourself and your abilities," she says. "It's okay to break the mold, and it's okay to fail. What matters is that you keep trying to the best of your abilities."

Learn more about Spartan Racing.