Short Interview w/ John Heywood, Prof. of Mechanical Engineering at MIT

Wow! That's cool! Thank you for sharing. I didn't even know that he was still alive. I guess that's because I never asked Google. I'm glad he's only partially retiring. It would be cool to have him attend some of our industries best diagnostic seminars and hear his commentary after.

That is an excellent thought Brin. Bridging the gap between engineers and technicians would go a long way to bettering the public's perception of automotive repair. People like John Heywood are open-minded enough to help bridge that gap. The trick is how to do it. A good first step would be to visit MIT, which is an amazing place. I highly recommend it if you are in the area. The Sloan

Hi Chris: The gap bridging was attempted before. tirebusiness​.​com/article/199701… It was great on paper. It was actually very good in the beginning. Regretfully, internal politics managed to find its way into things though. Guido

Hi Guido, I'll try almost anything twice, especially as I was knee high to a grasshopper when it was first founded. I see it is defunct now, though there is a basic landing page on SAE. Have you ever considered teaming up with some of the people on here to write the behind the scenes story of the automotive industry? You and your colleagues are a seemingly endless fount of knowledge. No

Hi Chris: I'm not saying that things like STS can't work. Expectations need to be established in order to make that determination though. If you could take a l'il trip down Memory Lane, you may notice that there were a lot of things going on at the time. It seems that once the real political pressure had subsided, so did any impetus for STS. Stories? Nah, they come back like flashbacks. My

I attended exactly one STS chapter meeting in Massachusetts hosted by former STS President Jerry G Truglia. Unfortunately, it was the last meeting, as STS was being shut down at that time. However, It was very fortunate for me to have attended that particular meeting because it was there that I learned about the creation of TST. "G" Truglia had a decent group of techs that were members of his

Hi Bob: G has done a real good job with TST. I didn't use the word "remarkable" for a reason. He is/was eminently qualified to do it. He was pretty much expected to make it successful. (That's not a knock or a suck-up. It's a reality.) As you may remember, he was president of STS. He also was the committee chair for the Training Committee of the original NASTF. Factor in his books and training

I did a quick search and your right, there are a lot of posts about STS and TST. Very interesting, it's like taking a trip in the wayback machine with Sherman and Peabody.

He just wrote the 2nd edition of his famous book, Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals. amazon​.​com/Internal-Combu…

I didn't know that Matt, thanks again. Twice in one day your expanding my knowledge, it's much appreciated. This means I have to get a copy, and get it signed. Looks like I have a project now.

Oh my gawd please hook me up!! I'm game to go meet him and tour the whole place.

I wish it was that easy Matt, I have no special connections there that I recall, but I will be attempting to. I just planned on being persistent, but I promise if I can make something happen I will get you in on it as well. I have a thought brewing in regards to this. In the mean time, here is a report he was recently involved with that I found interesting. I did not know this, but he is

Chris, count me in on both fronts. I'd love to help make something happen. Bridging the gap, as you say, would be mutually beneficial in my opinion. Automotive scientist and engineers networking with diagnostic technicians would be a game changer. Honestly, we wouldn't need anything super formal. We could simply invite them to DN. I've always felt that it was important to find ways to connect

Wow, this news story is interesting. Ford passed up on the offer but ended up using the tech anyway? Is that how it reads?

That's how it reads to me.

Scott, That's how I read it, and the same outlines of the story were repeated in 10 or so articles so I tend to believe it. What the internal details are, we may never know. Just from John's history and that of MIT I know there was work being done on those systems around that time. It all comes down to patent law and what the exact terms of the Ford-MIT joint venture were/are: Ford is still

That is an outstanding statement and IMO, one that should be used to market the required skill set needed to address service challenges! Thanks for highlighting this. On the interview, do you know if there is a longer version or was this it? Seems like she could have let him expand on his statement a little more?

Scott, I spent a good hour searching after Matt posted the video and I can't find anything else in regards to it. It appears all we are left with is a few brief minutes.

Bummer, I may be dreaming but it would be interesting to have him join a conversation and walk us through his thought process in addressing a diagnostic issue or two. Or at least walk us through how the diagnostic process is considered when designing a system...

Scott, I reached out to him last night. I explained that he is a bit of a folk hero to us in the industry and that we would be greatly honored to have him visit Diagnostic Network and see the direction the repair industry is heading straight from the keyboards of those living it. Fingers crossed....

Thanks Chris, If by chance he responds and needs assistance getting access, please provide him with my contact info so he can reach me directly and I'll get him set up right away.

Will do Scott. I have no idea the volume of correspondence he gets and even being semi-retired I am quite sure he is busy. Fingers crossed....I think it would be mutually beneficial to his students as well. I may well be up near Cambridge in a few months if things go according to plan. I plan on trying to get a tour of the Automotive Lab, meeting some people, and showing them some of the stuff

I think he would be FLOORED by some of the test techniques we use. Namely in-cylinder, intake manifold and exhaust pressure analysis via a transducer and oscilloscope.

Disappointingly, I think that is it. So far it is about the only interview of this nature I've found. He has others that are more technical and also seem to caution the speed at which EV will take over ICE.