Carroll Smith to be Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by Society of Automotive Engineers
MALIBU, Calif.--Feb. 26, 2003--Carbon Cloth Technologies (CCT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of KleenAir Systems Inc. (OTCBB:KAIR), today announced that the Company's Chief Design Engineer, Carroll Smith, has been selected to receive a Triple "E" Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers, to be presented during a special Honors Convocation Luncheon on Tuesday, March 4, during the 2003 SAE Annual Congress in Detroit.
The "Excellence in Engineering Education" award is in recognition of Smith's long-standing participation and outstanding contributions to the work of the Engineering Education Board.
Diana Brehob, Chair of the SAE Engineering Education Board, said, "We are delighted to be honoring Carroll Smith at this year's show. Over the years, Carroll has worked tirelessly to ensure that his vast knowledge and expertise is readily available to benefit and support the emerging design and engineering talent that is so important to the future of our industry. We are deeply appreciative of his work in this field."
Born in Oswego, N.Y., in 1932, Smith began his career as a winning Formula Junior and Sports Car driver on the European and U.S. circuits before crossing over into design and development engineering and race team management for giants such as Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota. His roll of honor includes two LeMans and Daytona 24 Hour victories with the Carol Shelby Racing GT40 team, the Rome Grand Prix, the Japanese Grand Prix and a host of titles in Formula 5000, Formula Atlantic, GT and Sports Car events. In addition, Smith has become an established author of both motivational and technical books and is a regular contributor to international auto racing magazines.
Smith remains a revered figure in professional engineering circles and his current work as Chief Engineer with Carbon Cloth Technologies is adding to an already impressive record of innovative automotive engineering achievements. Together with founder and ex-racing driver Beau Gooliak, Smith began working on advanced thermal barrier design prototypes for the motor sports industry.
Using a unique composite of rayon-based carbon woven and non-woven materials in conjunction with other organic materials, they developed a revolutionary patented thermal barrier. The product was subsequently perfected through intensive testing by leading racing organizations such as Ferrari Formula 1 program, Mercedes-Benz, Paul Ray of Ilmor Engineering, Penske Racing and Williams F-1 and readily embraced by the racing community.
The result was the 0.5" Carbon Guard(TM), a sewn, removable blanket manufactured using no ceramics or fiberglass and capable of delivering a superior combination of thermal resistivity (R), radiation resistance and longevity. The R and K factors of the Carbon Guard(TM) are 4 to 5 times greater than other products currently on the market.
Realizing the substantial benefits that the Carbon Guard(TM) thermal barrier could offer in addressing multiple areas of concern such as environmental, health and safety, performance enhancement and cost effectiveness, CCT sought to move the product beyond the confines of motor racing and into the broader commercial marketplace. With the support of Christopher Bush, Director of R + D for the New York City Transit Authority, CCT signed an exclusive agreement to supply their entire diesel bus fleet, enabling the transit authority to meet the new, stringent EPA emission standards.
Beau Gooliak, President of Carbon Cloth Technologies, commented, "I'm excited by the work that we are doing at CCT. With the introduction of the Carbon Guard(TM), we are bringing to market a breakthrough concept in thermal management that has the potential to make a significant impact across the entire automotive spectrum. Through the successful installation and operation of the Carbon Guard(TM) for the New York City Transit Authority, and our ongoing work with transit authorities in both Europe and Canada, the Carbon Guard(TM) is demonstrating superb operational effectiveness in demanding work environments, and this is proving to be a strong validation of the substantial performance, reliability and cost benefits that our product has to offer."
About Carbon Cloth Technologies
Formed in 1996, the Company initially developed thermal management products for the motor racing industry, supplying racing teams in Formula 1, CART, NASCAR, and NHRA with thermal barrier systems to optimize engine performance. The Company's Carbon Guard is currently installed in hundreds of buses operated by New York City Transit and the system is under evaluation by a number of other metropolitan transit authorities worldwide. Carbon Cloth Technologies, Inc. is publicly traded as a wholly-owned subsidiary of KleenAir Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:KAIR) having been acquired in April 2002.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements: Except for statements of historical fact, the information presented herein constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of KleenAir Systems and Carbon Cloth Technologies, including revenues, income and expenses, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include risks relating to KleenAir Systems and Carbon Cloth Technologies' anticipated future financial performance, continued roll-outs with existing customers and other factors over which the Companies may have little or no control. This list is intended to identify only certain of the principal factors that could cause actual results to differ. Readers are referred to the reports and documents filed by KleenAir Systems with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 2002 , for a discussion of these and other important risk factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.