My contribution to the war effort....

Many hours of college were wasted in lectures and liberal arts classes which could have been better spent building things or riding my bike.  In that time, though, I was able to conjure up many concepts for hybrid automobiles.  My best work centered around developing a wheel which functioned as part of an electric motor.  Another design I spent a fair amount of time on was a drivetrain module that could be interchanged.  The basic premise was to separate the power source from the passenger compartment to allow rapid changes in technology to be easily added and isolate the noise and vibration associated with power generation.  Unfortunately, the styling made it look like a helicopter passing an egg.  (I apparently didn't spend enough time honing the artistic skills.)

One bold step I made right after graduation from Purdue was to contact an "Invention Submission" company.  Little did I know that these places were a huge scam.  After they pored over my drawings with puzzled looks and recommended some "off-shore" facilities that mostly dealt in plastic novelties, I packed up my things and went home.  Apparently, the world wasn't ready for my shaft drive bicycle.  I still think about this idea alot, but until I learn how to weld aluminum it will have to wait.

I've promised my wife that she will be able to see my name on a human-powered record list some day.  My interest in alternative power goes beyond just automobiles.  I foresee a concept for human-powered flight that will be able to hover.  A note to my aeronautics professors who thought I was sleeping:  "I was actually absorbing most of what you were saying.  Look above your head in about 5 years!"

Long before Purdue, I was dreaming of strange and wonderful ways to improve transportation.  Most of my doodles were of cars.  One of my creations, however, was a little trick for open-wheel racing to significantly increase downforce.  (A hint is that the top of the tire is actually moving forward at twice the speed of the vehicle.)  I haven't seen anything like it yet, but it could happen.  Two of my other childhood meanderings have come to fruition.  The first was a wind tunnel for aerodynamic testing which used a moving belt.  I believed that the interaction with the road was far more significant than the engineers' assumptions did.  I did a little research while in college and found that one was built about 5 years after my daydream.  The other idea was borne out of frustration.  I grew up in a small town outside of Bloomington, Indiana.  The closest gas station was always closed when we needed to get gasoline.  I thought that if they married an ATM with a gas pump, then we could buy gas after hours.  Well, the pumps now exist, it's just that they don't trust the customers enough to leave them on after closing!

My first real job out of college was great for tapping into creative juices.  It was a small company that specialized in child safety and commercial vehicles.  In the 4 short years there, I was fortunate to be involved the design on 4 patents, made my first trip overseas and smacked around alot of test dummies.  (Thanks Dave and Steve!)