E3 Spark Plugs News

Engineering research involving E3 spark plugs will be featured on an upcoming episode of Speed TV’s GEARZ starring Stacey David, a nationally recognized automotive expert. Each week on GEARZ, sponsored in part by E3 Spark Plugs, David pushes the limits of creativity and automotive logic, building some of the most unconventional, even downright crazy cars you’ve ever seen. GEARZ is geared toward teaching viewers all the tools and tips needed to build or customize a one-of-a-kind ride.

The episode centers on the work of a team of scientists and engineers at Michigan Technological University’s Keweenaw Research Center involving E3 spark plugs in automotive and snowmobile engines. They’re constructing a laboratory that will support a pressure vessel able to withstand pressures and temperatures that occur in most combustion applications – including inside spark plugs. The pressure vessel will allow scientists to study issues involving transport phenomena and thermo-chemical processes and related issues including flammability and safety; spark-ignited and diesel fuel-air mixing and combustion; and bio-fuels and alternative fuels mixing and combustion.

E3 Spark Plugs proudly supports the work of numerous researchers on the Michigan Tech team including principal Dr. Jeff Naber, Dr. Seong-Young Lee and research engineer Jeremy Worm. After all, E3’s diamond fire technology was developed and tested by top professors of combustion and engine dynamics at two leading engineering universities before hitting the market.

While filming, David and his crew visited the Keweenaw Research Center as well as Michigan Tech’s ion propulsion lab and driving simulator. They also visited the MTU Four Wheelers, a student group of four-wheel and off-road vehicle enthusiasts who share off-roading adventures and even help law enforcement in the search and rescue of lost individuals. David autographed the dashboards of several student vehicles, which undoubtedly are outfitted with E3 spark plugs.

Be sure to tune in for E3 Spark Plugs’ GEARZ plug!

171 years ago this month, the first known spark plug was invented by Edmond Berger, historians say. Unfortunately, Berger failed to patent his spark plug invention, so documented history points to Sir Oliver Lodge of England, whose sons parlayed the “Lodge Igniter” into a profitable company founded in 1903. The next year, Albert Champion, a world renowned bicycle and motorcycle racer who made extra cash by handcrafting spark plugs and selling them to friends, moved from France to Flint, Michigan and founded Champion Ignition Company. Investor drama left Champion jobless, but he soon found himself appointed president of the AC Spark Plug Company formed with backing from Buick Motor Co. AC spark  plugs were used in Charles Lindbergh’s and Amelia Earhart’s trans-Atlantic flights and fired the second and third stage rocket engines that took Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins to the moon.

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SEMA Show 2009 just wrapped and E3 Spark Plugs is revved up about all the innovative new products and technologies in the automotive industry. This season, the common thread among major auto shows is a focus on fuel efficiency and leaner, greener products, technologies and approaches. E3 Spark Plugs felt right at home.

Aside from all the spectacular new vehicle models, and of course the beautiful female models accompanying them plus a host of TV and racing celebrities, a main attraction at SEMA Show 2009 was the Making Green Cool Zone. This exhibit area featured dozens of innovative solutions for refining existing automotive platforms including the internal combustion gasoline engine, and creating new products using alternative fuels and energy sources. (more…)