Automotive Hall of Fame Greets 250,000th Visitor

DEARBORN, Mich., May 22, 2007 -- The Automotive Hall of Fame greeted its 250,000th visitor Saturday, May 19, 2007. The visitor, Ben Young, from Northampton, Mass., was greeted by Hall of Fame President Jeffrey Leestma.

"Ben is an engineering student at the University of Hartford, and represents the enthusiasm and potential of the auto industry's next generation of participants and leaders," said Leestma. "He was the ideal person to receive this distinction, as one of the primary missions of the Automotive Hall of Fame is to encourage industry participation by young people."

A senior at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, Young is studying mechanical engineering. He was in Detroit, along with three student teammates, Caitlin Rega (Modina, NY), Bobby Wright (Wayland, Mass.) and Steve Osuch (New Milford, Conn.), to participate in the Formula SAE finals competition in Romeo.

The Formula SAE competition is for SAE student members to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing cars, encouraging the creativity and imagination of the students. The cars are built with a team effort over a period of about one year and compete with approximately 120 other vehicles from colleges and universities throughout the world. "We were in Detroit all week competing," explained Young, "and the Automotive Hall of Fame was on our list of places to see while we were here." To commemorate the experience, Leestma presented Automotive Hall of Fame shirts to Ben and his teammates.