20th Annual AETC Conference A Success

[jlee@CPG]

Many of the nation’s top Modular engine builders gather to discuss better ways to make power

This year the Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC) celebrated its 20th anniversary with one of the biggest conferences yet. Each year the AETC concentrates on an engine-building related topic and gathers many of the smartest minds working in that area to speak.

Organizers Karen Simon (left) & Tammy Holland greet the attendees.

The plan is to create an atmosphere where sharing ideas and expertise is encouraged, and the discussions at the catered dinners are often just as informative as the formal presentations on stage. It’s a lot like a master’s level course on advanced engine building squeezed into three days.

For 2009 the AETC focused Ford’s Modular engine family—a design that’s both relevant now because it is in millions of vehicles and currently Ford’s only V8 engine design, and for the future because of its overhead cam architecture. Even with that, however, there was still much discussed in general engine technology that could benefit anyone building any engine. In fact, there were several attendees in the crowd that didn’t have a specialty in Modular engines but were there just to be a part of the sharing of information.

As usual, the speakers for the AETC were quite varied in their areas of expertise and brought many different—and very interesting—viewpoints based on their experience. Presentations were made by specialists in various areas of the automotive industry including dedicated race engine builders, street-legal engine builders, cylinder head designers and even representatives from Ford Motor Company.

The topics of discussion were also quite varied. For example, Kyle Carrothers from Roush Industries and John Maddox from Roush Yates Engines discussed the specifics of building Modular race motors for all-out competition. Carrothers revealed many insider tips from his Super Stock drag racing experiences while Maddox did the same from the perspective of building race-winning engines for Daytona Prototypes and other endurance sports car racing classes. Sean Andrew from Diamond Racing Pistons discussed the piston designs that worked best in modular engines—and why—and even touched on a few advancements in metallurgy and design that smart engine builders may take advantage of in the years to come. Richard Holdener, a longtime magazine writer who has performed hundreds of independent dyno tests, shared his findings—complete with dyno results—on the best ways to combine superchargers and turbos to get the ultimate in raw power and instant throttle response in a Modular engine. It’s called “Compound Forced Induction” and while it is still rare today, it’s likely to become much more popular in the near future.

Enjoying a coffee break & conversation between presentations.

And that was only the beginning. When Al Noe of cylinder head specialists Trick Flow Specialties took the stage, he pulled the curtain back on the secrets of casting high-performance cylinder heads. Noe not only shared the inherent strengths and weakness of different casting methods, but also which method works best in different situations.

Devin Rickey of Power-Tec Engineering spoke about the advancements in supercharger technology that should soon become available to hot-rodders and racers alike. Chris Johnson of SCT shared some of the tuning tricks that allowed him to safely squeeze 1,100 horsepower from a Ford GT and build practically from scratch the engine management system for the Koenigsegg CCR super car.

And then, of course, you can’t forget the official support provided by none other than the big blue oval itself. Jeff Lyjack and Rob Deneweth, both Ford employees, gave one of the most popular presentations of the conference. They gave an insiders look at Ford’s Modular engine program, and talked frankly about the difficulties of designing the engine from a blank sheet of paper, the engine design’s strengths and even what’s in the future in terms of high-performance products. Lyjack explained the process that led to the development of Ford’s groundbreaking three-valve cylinder head and why that wasn’t originally the engineering team’s first choice. And Deneweth gave attendees a first look at a new intake manifold that will soon be available form Ford Racing Performance Parts and has proven to be 40 horsepower better (at 7,000 rpm) over the standard Modular intake.

Lyjack & Deneweth of Ford, ''give an insider's look at Ford Mod Engines''

And on the final day of the conference, Brian Wolfe, Ford’s Director of North American Motorsports, brought the conference to a spectacular close when he made a special visit to address the crowd about Ford Racing’s future plans. He also hung around afterwards to take part in a very frank roundtable discussion and took questions from the attendees.

After each presentation a Q&A session was scheduled to allow attendees to have their own questions answered by the expert panel. These question and answer sessions proved to be one of the most popular portions of the conference because of the lively discussions they sparked.

Next year the AETC’s focus will be on engine technology for circle track racing, and the conference’s organizers predict it will be the most heavily attended yet. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out the website at www.AETConline.com. See you next year!