A central hobby of mine is working with vintage cars, particularly British sportscars from the 1950s and 1960s. My British cars have included Triumph’s, MG’s, and Austin Healey’s and my non-British sportscars have included Datsun’s and Nissan’s. In addition to owning vintage cars, I have raced them as well.
While a person’s hobby may not normally be an important consideration to one’s career, I consider my passion for vintage cars and racing as a significant element of my career.
Working on vintage cars and racecars provides me with an appreciation of a methodical approach to problem solving that is based on valid and reliable information and data.
I like to work on things with my hands, watch the process, and be part of the process. This hands on experience gives me a better sense of the details that need to be addressed and an appreciation for the skills that are needed to complete a project professionally and personally.
This approach to has resulted in several significant projects. I built a 1972 Datsun 240Z into a racecar which later went on to receive a best in show runner up award at the Kohler International Challenge racecar Concours show.
I also restored a 1953 Austin Healey 100/4. This allowed me to apply my vision and skills to the project where needed and to partner with restoration experts to carry out specialty work. This partnership produced a car that won best in show awards within the British car community.
I built and currently race a 1959 Austin Healey 3000 racecar. This car also went on to receive a best in show runner up award at the Kohler International Challenge racecar Concours show.
Data Acquisition and Analysis
I love the ability of data and facts to serve as the foundation of great research and guide the understanding and enhancement of behavior and performance. In vintage racing, I have been using data acquisition systems to assess, predict, and modify my own driving behaviors to understand suspension and chassis engineering to great effect.
This work complements my professional activities where my research includes aggregating facts from the scientific community and developing research hypotheses and questions that can be addressed by data driven methods. I have extensive experience conducting heuristic evaluations, quantitative research, and qualitative research.
I believe that good data is the foundation to good decisions.
