Doyle Rotary: At the 2011 SAE World Congress

Right on! Good Luck.

I think it is very professioinal of you to mention the Grail guys in a positive light.

BAH! You have nothing to worry about! Go get 'em Tiger!

So day one of the World Congress is over. We did not imagine it going this well. We estimate that we spoke with at least 500 people. These people ranged from college students and media types up to head engineers from GM, Ford, Chrysler and others.

Naturally, most of the people approached with a good amount of doubt. But after explaining the concept, the basic advantages and answering some questions, most of them left on a very positive note. Many of them said they were impressed by how prepared we were to answer their questions. This preparedness can definitely be traced back to the discussions here on CR4.

The most exciting result of the show so far is the connection we made with a Popular Mechanics writer. He seemed to really like the engine and our team (my dad, brother and I). We will be featured in a PM article next to the Scuderi Engine and the Grail Engine. We look forward to seeing that article next month.

Our booth consists of one large TV looping the newest video in the back of the booth, two tvs with interactive animations that we use to quickly show the engine concept and various portions of the engine, a 2.3L full scale model, the crankshaft and cylinder assembly of the prototype that seized up and several parts from the newest prototype (including the cylinder block, pistons and rods).

In the picture of the booth, my dad is on the right and my brother Casey is on the left.

Finally, you can check out the interactive animation at our website under the Engine Overview section. It is an animation composed of more than 200 images so it might take a bit of time for your browser to open it. It is definitely worth it though.

-Adam

Way to go Doyles!

Many people come here, post wild claims of half-baked ideas, and then get angry when they're asked to back-up the talk with something tangible.

The Doyle team deserves a very hearty round of applause.

Also, congratulations on the Popular Mechanics coverage. Can't wait to read it!

Day two has ended. It was another busy day.

A camera crew had spoke with us briefly yesterday about the engine, the progress that we have made, the future of the prototypes and about our team/family. They stopped back by today and recorded an interview with my dad. They said they are very interested in our story and would like to fly from Washington DC to Dallas to do a full story including footage of the shop, the old prototypes and more about us.

Quite often today we saw people from yesterday bringing their colleagues back with them to check the engine out. Its always interesting when the new guy asks a question and their friend can answer that question from what they learned yesterday. It goes a long way when one of them is into the engine.

A representative from the Department of Energy stopped by and ended up giving us the contact information for the team lead of the combustion engine research and development division. He recommended that we setup a meeting and pitch the engine in order to get closer to some grant money.

One question that we get very often is "So who is funding this project?" They are always surprised to hear that this is basically a family hobby that is produced and funded by my dad's machine shop. They are also often surprised to find out that this engine has been in development for 26 years and that they are only hearing about it now. But they understand after we tell them that we would have been wasting their time if we had released a flawed design to the public so we have taken the time to assure that our idea is well refined.

Even if there aren't any immediate results from the exhibit, we feel like we've made some ripples that could work their way around and help us out in the future. We are happy about how things have gone.

Great! Keep the faith that maybe a little guy can make it.

Remember us when you are a rich automotive magnet.

The third and final day of the World Congress is over.

Today wasn't quite as busy as the last two. We had planned on driving into the night so that tomorrow we would have less than 20 hours of driving to do. However, earlier today an employee of an OEM from here in Detroit showed some interest in the engine and asked if we could adjust our travel plans to stay an extra night. He then began to make calls to set up a meeting for us tomorrow morning.

So tomorrow morning at 7:00am my dad will be heading to a meeting that wasn't set up until about 6 hours ago. We don't want to get into the specifics of who we are meeting with just in case they frown upon that. Perhaps tomorrow we can release some more details. Sorry about the veil of secrecy.

We aren't getting our hopes too elevated about tomorrow's meeting. My dad's plan is to explain how the engine works, the size and potential efficiencies of the engine and show the work we have done so far on our tight budget. Anything after that depends on their interest.

My brother and I will be back at the hotel with our fingers crossed hoping that my dad has a good reception.

Any way it goes, exhibiting here has been a huge success. We almost expected to hear crickets chirping while we played solitaire in our booth. But as many people told us, it seemed like we were a highlight of the show.

Well, I'm going go to sleep. Who knew standing around talking about an engine was exhausting?

The meeting yesterday went well. My dad got to show and explain his engine to seven Ford engineers. Prior to the show we had hoped to get some attention from attendees but only dreamed of getting the opportunity to meet with engineers from an OEM.

Each engineer showed an interest in the engine and they all had good questions. They gave us some good information about government grants.

So we plan to continue on while also applying for grants. We hope to have some running prototypes to show to the engineers next year.

There are still more results that can come from this week's events. We spoke to powertrain engineers from many different companies. We would definitely be open to having more meetings. We also have several articles to look forward to.

I will be updating the website at least once a week from now on as we progress so stay tuned.

Way to GO!!!!!!!!!!

Let's hope that this all works out for you guys. It must be gratifying to know that "actual engineers from Ford" think your engine has merit.

Keep us posted, and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!