Hi from Dearborn MI

[ttpete]

2018 Platinum owner.

I'm retired from 35 years working in the Ford Engineering Center. I was in Product Development for most of that time.

 

[Rick]

Glad to have you aboard Pete Did you ever work with Rick Haas or Vera Linansalo?

 

[ttpete]

I worked in the Research & Scientific building on the gas turbine project and recip engines. From there, I spent some years in the Emission lab, then did a spell in the engine garage and finally in Design Aid doing prototyping.

Currently, the company is spending a billion dollars completely rebuilding the center by tearing down and rebuilding many buildings. The wind tunnels and cold room are gone, as is the old aircraft hangar trackside. Ford has bought most of two blocks on Michigan Ave and is building office and retail space as well as refurbing the old Wagner Hotel.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Did you work on the design of any hybrids? What kind of software did you use? Did you see the tele immersion technology that they use to test prototypes?

 

[ttpete]

I retired in 2001. Long ago. I could make anything you wanted if you gave me a 3 view drawing in 3rd angle projection. We did have stereo-lithography and CAD to a certain extent. My experience at the time was that it was difficult to make the transition from 3-view drawings to an image on the tube that had absolutely no dimensions and no view that was plane to one surface. In the shop, we had no access to the drawing files.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Do you still have access to programs like Autocad, Fusion360 or similar drawing programs? Are you able to modify an stl file for 3D printing?

 

[ttpete]

Do you still have access to programs like Autocad, Fusion360 or similar drawing programs? Are you able to modify an stl file for 3D printing?

We had no facilities down in the shop, and most engineers had their own detailer who did his tube work. I'd get a printout that was usually inadequate, and I'd have to go upstairs and sort things out. Remember that I retired in 2001.

I did a fair amount of stuff that was a concept that had to be proved out and was usually revised several times before it was approved. We worked with bodies-in-white on surface plates that were scribed in XYZ planes every 100 mm. That's probably gone away now.