Wind Tunnel eXtreme to Offer Most Advanced Wind Tunnel in the World to Race Teams and Auto Industry
JACKSON, Mich. (Aug. 17, 2007) It was announced today at a press conference at Michigan International Speedway that a newly-formed group of investors has joined together to design and construct a state-of-the-art customer wind tunnel project near Charlotte, N.C., the heart of NASCAR country, known as Wind Tunnel eXtreme.
This project will help provide teams from all motorsports disciplines an "unfair advantage" in aerodynamic development. The core of this program will be the most advanced automotive wind tunnel in the world, utilizing technology that is not available today even to Formula 1 teams.
Wind Tunnel eXtreme was created to address the scarcity of high-tech wind tunnel time in the United States. Slated to open in the third quarter of 2009, it will be a full-scale, world-class facility available to customers on a membership basis.
It will also be the world's only wind tunnel specifically designed for multiple-car testing, and the only customer wind tunnel in the world with the "TALINGZ®" option added to a single-belt MTS rolling-road system. It will have full-scale testing capability, reach wind and road speeds of up to 180-mph (80 m/s), and feature best-in-class adaptive wall wind tunnel technology.
Wind Tunnel eXtreme is in the process of finalizing the location of the project in the Charlotte area. An announcement of the exact site is expected to be made in early September.
"It¹s the most advanced wind tunnel in the world," said automotive engineer and marketing consultant Kristen Helsel, the primary principal behind the project. "When it's built it will be designed specifically to do things that have never been available in wind tunnels in the past, including multiple-car testing.
"Eighteen months ago I traveled the world looking at the best wind tunnels, and I discovered that the United States was woefully behind any type of offering that Europe and Japan had," added Helsel. "And so I realized there was this huge need for a wind tunnel of this kind for racing, but also for the automotive industry. Both industries are vital to the economy, so it is important for an instrument of this caliber to be available to various automotive companies and motorsports entities to have the ability to do this type of testing.
"It's applicable not only to racing, but also corporate average fuel economy and things that are going to be pressing the car industry and our nation for years to come," continued Helsel. "By building a facility of this type, which when built will be the most advanced automotive wind tunnel in the world, we bring that technology right here to the U.S. without having to fly to Europe or anywhere else.
"It's a great opportunity to bring something like this to the state of North Carolina."
WTX partner Donald A. Babb, real-estate developer, professional corporate manager and former CEO of a number of companies, agreed. "No. 1, it's a first-class project, and, No. 2, it fulfills a need in the sport and business that we love. It will be the most technically advanced wind tunnel in the world when it's completed, but more importantly, it will yield the best available results for the user, whether they are a race team or an OEM.
"Ms. Helsel brings immense experience and talent to this effort," Babb continued. "And the other partners have all headed up successful businesses. Businesses, I might add, that put the customer first. A lot of companies give lip service to that, but we intend to practice it. It will not be 'build it and they will come,' it will be 'we're going to build what they need and invite their participation.'"
Other partners behind the WTX project include investors Rick Barlow, and Brad Forsythe, a risk management consultant and author of "Bulletproof Your Business cutting risk for small company owners and managers."
By making this announcement here at Michigan International Speedway, the closest the NASCAR community comes to the U.S. home of the automotive industry, WTX is able to showcase both the power and the applicability of this technology to the future of both production cars and motorsports.
More than 50 percent of available memberships in WTX have been sold. Additional information may be found on www.windtunnelextreme.com
*** Wind Tunnel eXtreme An Introduction to the World¹s Most Advanced Wind Tunnel: * Designed to provide an "unfair advantage" in aerodynamic development. * Created to address the scarcity of high-tech wind tunnel time in the United States * A full-scale, world-class facility available to customers on a membership basis * The world¹s only wind tunnel specifically designed for multiple-car testing * The tunnel is designed to fit three full-scale cars in the test chamber to evaluate the aerodynamics of passing and drafting * The only wind tunnel in the world available with the "TALINGZ®" option added to a single-belt MTS rolling road system * Up to 180mph (80 m/s) wind and road speeds * Full-scale (1 to 1) testing * Featuring best-in-class adaptive wall wind tunnel technology * Test section size: 17 ft. wide x 8.5 ft. high x 85 ft. long * The managing partners are all successful business people with the financial stability to support a long-term commitment to the Wind Tunnel eXtreme project (see biographies) * WTX spent 18 months researching the world¹s best existing and planned wind tunnels and then designed the world¹s most advanced facility * WTX combined the best ideas and vendors to create the most useful, powerful, accurate and secure wind tunnel facility ever developed. * Supplier selection will play a major role in the success of the WTX wind tunnel * WTX¹s primary suppliers include Jacobs Technology (formerly Sverdrup), MTS, The Keith Corporation and Pi Research *** Wind Tunnel eXtreme PARTNERS Kristen Helsel Pasadena, Calif., and Charlotte, N.C. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Ms. Helsel began her automotive engineering career at General Motors in 1985, and remained with GM until 1994. Starting out as a college graduate in training, she joined the GM Safety Lab from 1987-89 to work on the inflatable restraining (safety) program. In 1989 she moved over to the Environmental Activities Staff, a technical support division working with the U.S. government, as liaison to the National Highway Traffic Safety Bureau. At the same time she pursued a Masters degree in Business Administration at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Following her graduation from the University of Michigan in 1991, she joined GM Racing in 1992. She was named by department director Herb Fishel as SCCA Trans-Am program manager for the 1992-93 seasons. Ms. Helsel was then promoted to business manager of GM Racing. She left GM in 1994 to open a sports-marketing company, Eclipse Management, which still exists today. Ms. Helsel worked in a number of capacities with different sponsors and race teams from 1994-05. In 2005 she accepted a position as Director of Marketing and Sales at Swift Engineering. One of her responsibilities was the Swift wind tunnel. While at Swift, she quadrupled the company¹s sales in 18 months. After leaving Swift Engineering in August of 2006, she embarked on the Wind Tunnel eXtreme project. Bradley G. Forsythe - Cincinnati, Ohio Mr. Forsythe is the author of the 2005 Bulletproof Your Business cutting risk for small company owners and managers. With a BA (dual honors) from Augsburg College, Mr. Forsythe held various operations and sales positions from 1975-81, and from 1981-02 he was Executive Vice President, Frequency Marketing, providing loyalty marketing software and services to Fortune 500 companies. In 2003 he founded Best Practice Advisors LLC to teach risk management for small businesses. He is chairman of three CEO Roundtables in Southwestern Ohio, teaches risk management for the Ohio Society of CPAs and is the recipient of the 2006 Business Advocate of the Year award from Clermont (Ohio) Chamber of Commerce, as well as the 2007 Small Business Excellence Award from the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. Richard G. (Rick) Barlow - Cincinnati, Ohio Mr. Barlow earned a BS degree from University of Illinois in 1968, and is a 1999 graduate of the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School. From 1969-81 he held various sales positions with American Express, Maritz Inc. and Business Incentives Inc. From 1981-02 he was founder/CEO of Frequency Marketing Inc. (FMI), providing loyalty marketing software and services to Fortune 500 companies. He also created and published COLLOQUY, the world¹s preeminent loyalty marketing resource, in 1990-02. In 2002 he sold FMI to Alliance Data Systems Inc. Mr. Barlow was a member and chairman of the Salvation Army Board of Clermont County, Ohio from 1998 to 2005. Working with his son, Scott, Mr. Barlow is also an independent film producer, having produced The Last Late Night in 1999. Donald A. Babb Ridgeway, S.C. Mr. Babb attended the University of Illinois and Eastern Michigan University, earning a BS and MBA. He spent six years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer participating in multiple Vietnam deployments. Mr. Babb started his career in family business with the Quikrete Companies of Atlanta, Ga., in 1973, becoming Vice President-Operations for the multi-plant cement products manufacturer with wholly-owned and licensee plants across the U.S. Recruited by the Foster family of Columbia, S.C., Mr. Babb joined the then 60-year-old mining company and installed an aggressive growth plan, ultimately becoming CEO and Chairman in 1985. During his tenure at Foster Dixiana Corporation he created Sandhills, a 350-acre, multi-use industrial Park and Soil Remediation Company (SRC), an environmental firm specializing in the decontamination of petroleum-contaminated soils. Babb sold SRC to a subsidiary of Thermal Electron. By 1994 he was recruited by the Jackson Companies of Myrtle Beach, S.C., to be CEO of this diversified real-estate development firm. In 1997 he purchased Bolyn Lubricant Company, an Exxon Industrial Lubricant Distributor and in 1998 purchased Bryan Oil Company. These two companies became the basis for Lubricant Technologies, which was sold to an industry consolidator in 2001. He joined the Amick Farms subsidiaries as the CEO of Renaissance Communities LLC and Renaissance Holdings LLC, with developments in Western N.C. and Beaufort S.C. Mr. Babb was subsequently elected CEO of Amick Farms Inc., the vertically integrated poultry production parent of the Renaissance development firms. Recently Mr. Babb assisted Bill Amick in the sale of Amick Farms to a multi-billion dollar food-service supplier/producer. Mr. Babb continues to be active in community activities and serves as a director of a number of real-estate firms, including Grubb & Ellis/ Wilson/Kibler, Palmetto Preservation, Inc, and Sandhills Development Co. ***