Greg wanted me to post this here. He attended the July 21st news conference in Beverly Hills, CA, at the Peterson Auto Museum. He had the opportunity of talking with a lot of people involved with AENG and listen to the University of Calif Riverside directors of this project.
"Contained here is a summary (although it's as long as a book) of what I saw,
heard, read and learned at the AENG & UCR joint news conference and other
events of July 21, 1999. There will be many quotes printed below. Some,
which occurred in print form, will not be IDed as they may have been taken
from articles, newspapers, etc. Quotes from those like the Chancellor of UCR
and Dr. Norbeck, Steve Manthey, etc., will be IDed as such.....
The Press Conference on the 21st was very interesting. All the local TV
network affiliates were represented along with numerous reporters from print
media.. Speedvision (the cable TV show) was very interested in the engine and
I expect they'll broadcast numerous times on their cable channel what their
cameras recorded.
As many of you know, the OX2 engine will be tested at the University of
California Riverside (UCR) Bourns College of Engineering. Within the College
of Engineering is the Center for Environmental Research and Technology known
as CE-CERT. CE-CERT's director is Dr. Joe Norbeck who is a Yeager Families
Professor of Environmental Engineering. Just FYI, if any of you engineers
will be at the Future Transportation Technology Conference organized by the
Society of Automotive Engineers, this August in Costa Mesa, CA, Dr. Norbeck
is the Technical Program Committee Chairman for this years conference. He's
no slouch!
At the press conference, Dr. Norbeck and the University of California
Riverside Chancellor Raymond Orbach were very enthusiastic about the
university's relationship with AENG and the potential of the OX2 engine to
impact California, the US, and the world.
Here are a few statements made on July 21, by Chancellor Orbach. "The purpose
of this relationship is for the University to provide the research and
development necessary to evaluate refined technologies that show the promise
for environmental and commercial applications." He went on to say, "We hope
this will be a monumental day not only for our campus, for Advanced Engine
Technologies, but for the people of the state of California, this country,
and truly the world as a new technology in engine development and design is
introduced."
Advising CE-CERT on this research program will be an internationally
recognized panel of outside experts from academia and industry chaired by Dr.
Roberta Nichols, a retired Ford Motor Company executive, a member of the
National Academy of Engineering and the first woman fellow of the Society of
Automotive Engineers.
Here's some other information, found in print, that was distributed at the
news conference. Dr. Joe Norbeck said, "A critical role of the university is
to look beyond what appears to be obviously applicable. Promising
technologies like the OX2 engine deserve a thorough, independent evaluation.
And we are grateful for the opportunity Advanced Engine Technologies has
given our faculty and students to be a part of a collaborative research
program to explore the unconventional design characteristics of this new
engine."
The first phase of the OX2 research -- expected to last about six months --
will include evaluation to determine the torque, power, fuel economy and
emissions potential of the engine. CE-CERT's Advanced Vehicle Engineering
group will carry out the research.
If successful, Norbeck said a second phase of research will be aimed at
technology improvement -- including optimizing the engine design and fuel
injection system -- as well as testing the power plant in a variety of
applications, such as vehicle propulsion and power generation. The technical
staff of both CE-CERT and Advanced Engine Technologies will undertake that
phase.
Initial funding for OX2 evaluation and development will be provided by
General Motors and Outboard Marine Corporation as both are interested in the
OX2 engine technology.
The OX2 engine weighs far less than the standard V-8 engine, though it
produces the same torque as the larger motor. It has no camshafts, no
distributors, no oil pumps, no water pumps, and no valves. The simplistic
OX2 has three (major) moving parts, versus the 60-some parts of the standard
V-8. In other words, it has fewer moving parts to cause engine trouble.
CE-CERT will be provided prototype engines with which to evaluate its power,
torque, steady-state emissions and fuel usage. Initial studies by Advanced
Engine Technologies indicate the OX2 is very low in emissions, can operate on
a variety of fuels, and can be adapted for uses ranging from automotive,
aircraft and watercraft propulsion to stationary electrical generation and
water pumping.
CE-CERT has emerged as a national leader in the study and evaluation of air
quality and alternative transportation technologies. A primary function of
the center is that of an independent and objective scientific body capable of
providing in-depth, valid evaluations of new environmental technologies for
regulatory agencies and industry.
Inside the CE-CERT laboratories, engineers and chemists study the reactions
between ultraviolet light and chemicals inside specially-designed smog
chambers and measure vehicle emissions down to the tiniest invisible particle
with state-of-the-art analysis equipment.
CE-CERT carries out approximately $6 million in research each year funded by
sources as diverse as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General
Motors. CE-CERT is acknowledged by both government and industry as the
authority in air quality research.
Director Norbeck says, "We cover all aspects of the air pollution problem.
There's a need to have a certain critical mass of expertise and a high degree
of credibility, and that's what we have brought together here."
Quotes from Steve Manthey the inventor of the OX2 engine. "This is not the
ordinary run of the mill engine technology. It's all very simple. As far as
I'm concerned, it's almost ridiculously simple, but nobody's doing it! We
have a 4-cycle engine that for every revolution fires twice as often as a
2-cycle engine. The advantages of the engine are - a huge amount of torque
at very low RPM, good fuel economy, good emissions, very simple construction
and there's only 3 major moving parts. No valves, no oil pump and no oil
pressure. Obviously, it requires oil for lubrication. It runs coolant thru
the engine but it doesn't require a pump to do that because of the engine
rotation. The engine can be run on points or fuel injection or electronic
ignition or carburetor, so it can be suitable for the most simplest
application to the most technical application. It has the ability to alter
its compression while stationary or while running (so light aircraft will run
more efficiently at different altitudes). We're not actually producing
anymore power with this engine, what we're doing is cutting the losses."
>From what I heard, Steve believes the OX2 will impact the world in a HUGE
manner! IMO, Steve Manthey and Paul Davenport are both off the charts in
regard to mechanical intellect. I don't believe you could find two more
brilliant minds working together on such a revolutionary mechanical project.
The term "Genius" would be highly appropriate here.
The other two mechanical minds that were here from Australia and have been
part of the development project for a long time belong to Peter Craig and
Peter McDonald. These guys were talking rings around the mechanical minds in
the audience. To say the least, the mechanical depth of AENG is vast.
Carroll Shelby says, he's never seen anything like it. He's seen 75 new
engines in his time and none were worth looking at except AENG's OX2 engine.
He can hardly wait to put the OX2 in a vehicle. Bobby Alison, Bob Teague,
Smokey Yunick, Holly Hedrich, etc, all believe the OX2 has great potential.
I know, because I talked to each of them. I also watched and listened to the
engine running. It ran beautifully! It ran warm to the touch (not hot) and
approx 12 inches from where the exhaust was exiting, I could hold my hand.
Dr. Joe Norbeck answered a few questions for the audience.
Q - What will UCR attempt to validate?
A - "The emissions reduction capability, the energy efficiency, the long term
durability of the engine in relation to current technologies, the ability of
the engine to be able to be used with alternative fuels. If the engine has a
place in the market, we're going to have to be able to demonstrate that this
engine has advantages over the power systems that we have. Our role will be
to do that. We're going to start with getting it on an engine dyno and start
equipping it so we can get the proper data. It's a promising technology. It
now needs to be further demonstrated."
Q - Give us a time frame?
A - "We're going to have the engine on our dyno and running, hopefully, in
the next 2 - 3 months."
Q - I was thinking more for Joe Commuter?
A - "..............I would say within a year we should be able to have a
working demonstration of this in a vehicle. That's our goal."
More from Dr. Norbeck. "Why did we join up with these guys? There's potential
here! There's real potential for low emissions without after treatment and a
lot of niche vertical markets throughout the world."
Dr. Norbeck said, "There's still a lot of work that needs to be done in
demonstrating the capability of this novel engine that we have here, and also
some further development. We have established a very, very good working
relationship with Advanced Engine Technologies and it's going to be an
interesting partnership. We're really going to have a technical
collaboration and we're going to do it with funding from potential end users
of the technology."
Dr. Norbeck went on to say, "In this particular case, there is real
potential. There is real potential we see in improving fuel economy, which
is real important. Even a 5 - 10% improvement in fuel efficiency is a
substantial and significant accomplishment. This engine has the potential
for lower emissions and can run on just about any fuel, diesel fuel, natural
gas. This has an enormous potential for 3rd world countries who can develop
now a renewable energy source, which will hopefully give them energy
independence to enhance their transportation sector and their economy. So,
it's an important program that we have and I want to thank Advanced Engine
Technologies for their real vision here and the way they've put this
together."
More from Dr. Norbeck. "We have a program in the _____ (I missed the name)
valley to develop an Advanced Engine Vehicle Technology Center with
Department of Defense money and this is one of the projects that we hope will
be part of this program with the Department of Defense. So this is a
marvelous partnership and it's going to be an interesting experience and
we'll let you know what happens."
Greg's statements........What I saw was highly impressive! IMO, we're
looking at the growth of a company that may impact most of us in a very
positive manner, in the coming years. I believe AENG's potential for growth
is VAST, VERY VAST.
I don't suggest mortgaging the farm, but I do suggest investing a comfortable
percentage of your investment dollars in AENG. The investment time frame
could be anywhere from months to 1 - 3 years. IMO, the OX2 engine has the
potential of improving upon all applications where internal combustion
engines are in use today and many attendees at last week's conference believe
the same. AENG continues to move forward................"
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