SEMA Member News—January 2018
ETTN TecHub, Awards and Upcoming Motorsports Tech Roundtable
 Kent Bradley, president of Performance Business Media, was recognized with the ETTN Ambassador Award. | |
The Emerging Trends & Technology Network (ETTN) held its inaugural TecHub event at the 2017 SEMA Show. The event brought together engineering professionals who are passionate about automotive innovation, trends and technology. Engineers from multiple automotive OEMs were in attendance, along with SEMA ETTN members and other SEMA members who were interested in growing their networks of technical executives and professionals.
The event was held in the Las Vegas Convention Center, and attendees were treated to lunch as they discussed the latest advancements in vehicle technology.
The ETTN also held its annual awards presentation during the TecHub to honor and celebrate professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the automotive aftermarket industry and to the network. Three awards were presented.
Ambassador Award: Kent Bradley, Performance Business Media
The Ambassador Award winner was Kent Bradley, president of Performance Business Media, an advertising agency that offers marketing solutions for automotive aftermarket companies and brands. The award is presented to an ETTN member who has demonstrated exceptional volunteer contributions or increased membership and awareness of ETTN during the past year. Bradley has demonstrated his commitment to the network by being an exemplary member of the association.
Genius Award: Ken Farrel, FiTech
The Genius Award winner was Ken Farrel of FiTech. Farrell has been a gearhead since the age of 13 and has never looked back. He was inspired by advancements in the industry and believes that he is blessed to be at the perfect age where he is old enough to know the jets and circuits of twin carbs on a roots supercharger but young enough to master the “new” science behind reflashing the EFI when installing turbos on his 96 SS Impala. That blend of technology and traditional power led him through a long list of triumphs as well as hard-learned lessons. As a result, he developed and patented some of the most cutting-edge and game-changing products in the performance aftermarket industry.
 Pete Gonzales (center) of Darkside Scientific received the ETTN Techie Award at the 2017 SEMA Show. | |
Farrel holds three U.S. patents in the EFI and ignition fields and has won “Best Engineered” SEMA awards five times since 2003 as chief designer for many high-profile performance aftermarket companies. He has been featured in countless magazines, technical articles and television shows and believes that the people in the performance automotive industry are some of the most creative and innovative in the world.
Techie Award: Pete Gonzales, Darkside Scientific
The Techie Award winner was Pete Gonzales of Darkside Scientific. The award recognizes an individual for engineering achievements of a product, process or component that demonstrates innovative and original engineering development and/or advances state-of-the-art technology as it pertains to the automotive industry or product sector.
Gonzales, COO of Darkside Scientific, has built training programs and starter kits for the automobile aftermarket in the form of online training (with starter kits), onsite at customers’ shops, and in-house at Darkside Scientific (geared toward OEMs). From those training programs, applicators from all over the world—including Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, the Middle East, Australia, Taiwan, China, Japan and more—have been able to successfully apply LumiLor and utilize it in their own shops as additions to their custom paint repertoires.
Gonzales has also developed a high-end prototyping facility in Medina, Ohio, to meet all OEM specifications and standards. That facility has helped produce working prototypes that have all been successes, and it will be setting up mass-production facilities for their respective OEMs. He has worked side by side with top executives from Airbus, Ford Performance, Pepsi, Brompton, GM, Lexus, Gibson and many more. One flagship would be the world’s first light-up identification markers for the exterior of Airbus aircraft; the prototype went from concept to final application in nine months and is still flying today.
 SEMA’s own Luis Morales (left) discusses the capabilities of 3D printing with ETTN members as they observe a full-scale 3D print of a Ford 2.3L EcoBoost engine block. | |
ETTN Motorsports Tech Roundtable
ETTN hosted its Motorsports Tech Roundtable at the 2017 Performance Racing Industry Show in Indianapolis, Indiana. The roundtable event offered open conversations with top industry talent and innovative minds on emerging technical trends that may impact product development in the motorsports industry. The gathering offered a chance for participants to meet with multiple experts to discuss a variety of topics. Individual table topics were moderated by selected experts, including the following:
- Gaining performance and drivability with electronically spooled/assisted turbocharging technology. Moderated by Lauren Fix.
- Running higher compression ratios using direct injection technology. Moderated by D. Rob Prucka.
- Trends in rapid prototyping and R&D tools to enhance engine/vehicle development and performance. Moderated by David Gurrola.
- How advanced simulation tools such as GT Power and 3D CFD can accelerate the engine development process. Moderated by Dan Agnew.
- Advancements in coatings reduce wear and friction and lead to increased performance. Moderated by Florian Rovere.
It was a free event, and employees from SEMA-member companies were in attendance.