Katech has been bought by EcoMotors
03-12-2014, 06:40 PM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
Katech has been bought by EcoMotors
Below is a link to the Katech site with a little bit of info:
http://www.katechengines.com
It says "Tony Mannarino has been appointed CEO of Katech with former CEO John F. (Fritz) Kayl maintaining a consulting role with the company. Under EM, Katech will continue to operate as the Katech brand, maintaining it's current business operations and staff".
It sounds like nobody will be losing their job - at least let's hope not!!
Bob
http://www.katechengines.com
It says "Tony Mannarino has been appointed CEO of Katech with former CEO John F. (Fritz) Kayl maintaining a consulting role with the company. Under EM, Katech will continue to operate as the Katech brand, maintaining it's current business operations and staff".
It sounds like nobody will be losing their job - at least let's hope not!!
Bob
03-12-2014, 07:32 PM
#2
Premium Supporting Vendor
Below is a link to the Katech site with a little bit of info:
http://www.katechengines.com
It says "Tony Mannarino has been appointed CEO of Katech with former CEO John F. (Fritz) Kayl maintaining a consulting role with the company. Under EM, Katech will continue to operate as the Katech brand, maintaining it's current business operations and staff".
It sounds like nobody will be losing their job - at least let's hope not!!
Bob
http://www.katechengines.com
It says "Tony Mannarino has been appointed CEO of Katech with former CEO John F. (Fritz) Kayl maintaining a consulting role with the company. Under EM, Katech will continue to operate as the Katech brand, maintaining it's current business operations and staff".
It sounds like nobody will be losing their job - at least let's hope not!!
Bob
More here: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...rm-katech.html
03-13-2014, 12:16 AM
#3
Race Director
Bill Gates backed EM, huh?
How many race teams does Bill Gates own? Oh that's right, none. He could own them ALL. One of the biggest, richest, eco nuts on the planet.
Well I do wish good luck, but.....
How many race teams does Bill Gates own? Oh that's right, none. He could own them ALL. One of the biggest, richest, eco nuts on the planet.
Well I do wish good luck, but.....
03-13-2014, 11:56 AM
#4
Melting Slicks
Rather than just buying "time" at a company like Katech, they just decided to buy the company... I guess if you have the resources and can afford it, then go for it.
Unfortunately most small companies like this are a direct reflection of their owners. That is, they are successful because the owner is smart and assembles a team of highly dedicated and experienced folks who get the job done. Often after the business is sold the new owners turn it over to a "management team" who find a way to muck it up. While the original owner is now retained as a "consultant" he may not have the power to run the place like he did before. Hope it all goes well and goes forward as it did before. Katech was doing some interesting stuff and lets hope that continues.
Also unfortunately the folks buying Katech have their pet project which is a "unique" engine configuration. I've had to evaluate a number of such engines in my past life and most of them don't really pass muster. Fundamental problems like sealing or lubrication often doom these types of engines and in the end we go back to what works because that evolved over 100 years or more and was the sum product of a lot of combined engineering and trial and error.
This one for instance has a lot of "monkey motion" going on to try eliminate valves, that most likely limits the speed at which the engine can operate. Moreover there are problems with piston porting having to do with the temperature of the cylinder wall near the exhaust port that tends to cause wear and piston sticking issues that are very hard to solve. That said, if anybody can solve those problems Katech probably can, but it's not trivial and I expect that there will be a lot of gnashing off teeth before that engine becomes a household name.
OTOH, having a big program like that in house is like money in the bank for the workers so that's not so bad either.
All in all it's like the Chinese curse.. "may you live in interesting times"
Unfortunately most small companies like this are a direct reflection of their owners. That is, they are successful because the owner is smart and assembles a team of highly dedicated and experienced folks who get the job done. Often after the business is sold the new owners turn it over to a "management team" who find a way to muck it up. While the original owner is now retained as a "consultant" he may not have the power to run the place like he did before. Hope it all goes well and goes forward as it did before. Katech was doing some interesting stuff and lets hope that continues.
Also unfortunately the folks buying Katech have their pet project which is a "unique" engine configuration. I've had to evaluate a number of such engines in my past life and most of them don't really pass muster. Fundamental problems like sealing or lubrication often doom these types of engines and in the end we go back to what works because that evolved over 100 years or more and was the sum product of a lot of combined engineering and trial and error.
This one for instance has a lot of "monkey motion" going on to try eliminate valves, that most likely limits the speed at which the engine can operate. Moreover there are problems with piston porting having to do with the temperature of the cylinder wall near the exhaust port that tends to cause wear and piston sticking issues that are very hard to solve. That said, if anybody can solve those problems Katech probably can, but it's not trivial and I expect that there will be a lot of gnashing off teeth before that engine becomes a household name.
OTOH, having a big program like that in house is like money in the bank for the workers so that's not so bad either.
All in all it's like the Chinese curse.. "may you live in interesting times"
03-13-2014, 01:35 PM
#5
Team Owner
Member Since: Mar 2001
Location: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, SoCal, back to Boston MA
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I always like it when a new engine comes out.
http://www.ecomotors.com/technology
http://www.ecomotors.com/technology
Engine Design
Opposed-Piston Opposed-Cylinder Engine
This patented design creates a ground-breaking internal combustion engine family architecture that will run on a number of different fuels, including gasoline, diesel and ethanol. The opoc's new opposed piston-opposed cylinder direct gas exchange operation provides the well known emissions benefit of 4-cycle engines, the simplicity benefits of 2-cycle engines, the power density of the less well known opposed piston engine, and the extraordinary developments in computer and thermodynamics all tied together in a new and proprietary engine architecture. It comprises two opposing cylinders per module, with a crankshaft between them, each cylinder has two pistons moving in opposite directions. This innovative design configuration eliminates the cylinder-head and valve-train components of conventional engines, offering an efficient, compact and simple core engine structure. The result is an engine family that is lighter, more efficient and economical, with lower exhaust emissions. Here you can see this revolutionary engine in operation, which helps to illustrate the simplicity, elegance and compactness of its design.
Opposed-Piston Opposed-Cylinder Engine
This patented design creates a ground-breaking internal combustion engine family architecture that will run on a number of different fuels, including gasoline, diesel and ethanol. The opoc's new opposed piston-opposed cylinder direct gas exchange operation provides the well known emissions benefit of 4-cycle engines, the simplicity benefits of 2-cycle engines, the power density of the less well known opposed piston engine, and the extraordinary developments in computer and thermodynamics all tied together in a new and proprietary engine architecture. It comprises two opposing cylinders per module, with a crankshaft between them, each cylinder has two pistons moving in opposite directions. This innovative design configuration eliminates the cylinder-head and valve-train components of conventional engines, offering an efficient, compact and simple core engine structure. The result is an engine family that is lighter, more efficient and economical, with lower exhaust emissions. Here you can see this revolutionary engine in operation, which helps to illustrate the simplicity, elegance and compactness of its design.
03-13-2014, 01:54 PM
#6
Premium Supporting Vendor
Rather than just buying "time" at a company like Katech, they just decided to buy the company... I guess if you have the resources and can afford it, then go for it.
Unfortunately most small companies like this are a direct reflection of their owners. That is, they are successful because the owner is smart and assembles a team of highly dedicated and experienced folks who get the job done. Often after the business is sold the new owners turn it over to a "management team" who find a way to muck it up. While the original owner is now retained as a "consultant" he may not have the power to run the place like he did before. Hope it all goes well and goes forward as it did before. Katech was doing some interesting stuff and lets hope that continues.
Also unfortunately the folks buying Katech have their pet project which is a "unique" engine configuration. I've had to evaluate a number of such engines in my past life and most of them don't really pass muster. Fundamental problems like sealing or lubrication often doom these types of engines and in the end we go back to what works because that evolved over 100 years or more and was the sum product of a lot of combined engineering and trial and error.
This one for instance has a lot of "monkey motion" going on to try eliminate valves, that most likely limits the speed at which the engine can operate. Moreover there are problems with piston porting having to do with the temperature of the cylinder wall near the exhaust port that tends to cause wear and piston sticking issues that are very hard to solve. That said, if anybody can solve those problems Katech probably can, but it's not trivial and I expect that there will be a lot of gnashing off teeth before that engine becomes a household name.
OTOH, having a big program like that in house is like money in the bank for the workers so that's not so bad either.
All in all it's like the Chinese curse.. "may you live in interesting times"
Unfortunately most small companies like this are a direct reflection of their owners. That is, they are successful because the owner is smart and assembles a team of highly dedicated and experienced folks who get the job done. Often after the business is sold the new owners turn it over to a "management team" who find a way to muck it up. While the original owner is now retained as a "consultant" he may not have the power to run the place like he did before. Hope it all goes well and goes forward as it did before. Katech was doing some interesting stuff and lets hope that continues.
Also unfortunately the folks buying Katech have their pet project which is a "unique" engine configuration. I've had to evaluate a number of such engines in my past life and most of them don't really pass muster. Fundamental problems like sealing or lubrication often doom these types of engines and in the end we go back to what works because that evolved over 100 years or more and was the sum product of a lot of combined engineering and trial and error.
This one for instance has a lot of "monkey motion" going on to try eliminate valves, that most likely limits the speed at which the engine can operate. Moreover there are problems with piston porting having to do with the temperature of the cylinder wall near the exhaust port that tends to cause wear and piston sticking issues that are very hard to solve. That said, if anybody can solve those problems Katech probably can, but it's not trivial and I expect that there will be a lot of gnashing off teeth before that engine becomes a household name.
OTOH, having a big program like that in house is like money in the bank for the workers so that's not so bad either.
All in all it's like the Chinese curse.. "may you live in interesting times"
03-13-2014, 03:09 PM
#7
03-13-2014, 03:19 PM
#8
Premium Supporting Vendor
I'm not worried. Tony Mannarino is a performance guy himself and loves what we're doing. He used to work at Saleen and was involved with the S7. Maybe we'll have a little bio on him soon.
03-13-2014, 03:54 PM
#9
