MEDLEN AMONG IMIS SAFETY CONFERENCE EXPERTS
Mon, 2009-08-31 12:28
John Force Racing crew chief John Medlen will join an all-star panel of
experts Dec. 1 at the inaugural International Motorsports Industry Show
(IMIS) Safety Conference at Indianapolis.
Medlen, who manages the Brownsburg, Ind.-based Eric Medlen Project that grew from his son's fatal accident in a Funny Car in 2007, will join Wayne State University's Dr. John Melvin and Safety Solutions Inc. President Trevor Ashline. Melvin and Ashline helped sort through the dynamics of Eric Medlen's crash and gave direction to JFR as it formed the foundation for the safety project.
IMIS co-founder Chris Paulsen has put together an all-star line-up that former CART Vice-President and Director of Operations Kirk Russell will coordinate.
The list includes another name familiar to drag racers. Tom Gideon, currently NASCAR's director of safety initiatives, was for 38 years a General Motors engineer who became manager of the automaker's Racing Safety Program. Among his projects today are the development and installation of SAFER barriers. John Force Racing crew chief John Medlen will join an all-star panel of experts Dec. 1 at the inaugural International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) Safety Conference at Indianapolis.
Medlen, who manages the Brownsburg, Ind.-based Eric Medlen Project that grew from his son's fatal accident in a Funny Car in 2007, will join Wayne State University's Dr. John Melvin and Safety Solutions Inc. President Trevor Ashline. Melvin and Ashline helped sort through the dynamics of Eric Medlen's crash and gave direction to JFR as it formed the foundation for the safety project.
IMIS co-founder Chris Paulsen has put together an all-star line-up that former CART Vice-President and Director of Operations Kirk Russell will coordinate.
The list includes another name familiar to drag racers. Tom Gideon, currently NASCAR's director of safety initiatives, was for 38 years a General Motors engineer who became manager of the automaker's Racing Safety Program. Among his projects today are the development and installation of SAFER barriers.
On the panel, too, are Dr. Robert Hubbard, the Michigan State University professor, biomechanics guru, and former GM engineer who created the HANS device; SFI Foundation President and CEO Arnie Kuhns, whose internationally recognized Poway, Calif., organization is develops, administers, and tests a complete set of minimum performance standards used in racing vehicles; and renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Terry Trammell, spinal surgical consultant to the IndyCar Series and a founding member of the International Council of Motorsports Science and a founding Fellow of the FIA Institute.
Two-time NASCAR Busch series champion Randy LaJoie, who owns a racing safety seat company, will serve as presenters with David Brown, track safety coordinator for the Indy Car Series; FIA Head of Research Hubert Gramling; Chapel Hill, N.C., Fire Chief Dan Jones, a frequent guest lecturer on emergency services; brain-injury and concussion specialist Dr. Steve Olvey; Dean Sicking, professor of structural engineering at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln who developed the SAFER barrier for high speed racetracks; Dr. Dan Thomas, helmet safety testing expert from the Snell Memorial Foundation; Joe Marko, driver restraint manufacturer and industry leader; and East Hartford, Conn., Fire Chief John Oates, chairman of the National Fire Protection Association Technical Committee on Safety at Motorsports Venues.
John Force, devastated by Eric Medlen's loss then his own horrific crash six months later, is credited for leading the safety initiatives in drag racing. But he said, "The drivers are starting to thank me, and I don't want to be thanked." Instead, he said, he wants racers to learn from the experts.
"You've got to get somebody that's trained in that science to teach you," Force said. "And they redesigned the cars that we have. So, in the process, we weren't going to try and figure out what happened to Eric and what happened to me. We jumped into it with people who had studied it in NASCAR, people from Ford Motor Company that were technicians that travel around the world with F1 and worked with NASCAR and IndyCar that work with this stuff. And we listened to them tell us. And that's how we got our answers."
Paulsen said he wanted to conduct a seminar with practical and lasting applications.
"It seems like it seems like safety seminars are popping up everywhere," Paulsen said. "But what are the results? Do these seminars get action items accomplished? Many times they don't. We’re going to change that."
He said, "Since we told the world about the IMIS Safety Conference, there has been unbelievable response. There’s an incredible passion with everyone in the industry when it comes to safety, but there seems to be a missing ingredient: communication. This is our mission, [to] open up communication within the racing industry.
"We want to open the door to the millions of dollars invested in great technology that has been developed by sanctioning bodies, manufacturers, independent researchers, and others who have devoted their time, talent and resources to lead this effort. We want to create a channel that brings that expertise to the intermediate and lower level forms of racing, saving lives and preventing injuries," Paulsen said.
And how does he plan to do that, to reach -- in his words -- "very achievable goals beyond the inaugural conference"?
"We're going to accomplish our goal by putting people together in an environment where they can get in touch with this technology first-hand."
Because of what he called an "overwhelming response," Paulsen said, the IMIS has scheduled two days in 2010 for the Safety Conference and predicted the seminar will evolve into a three-day affair in the future.
The IMIS, which in July acquired the partnership of racing-industry leader and NASCAR Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart, will be Dec. 2-3 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.
The Indiana Motorsports Association (IMA), which works toward unifying all motorsports business-related interests within the state of Indiana and to enrich the economic impact of Indiana motorsports businesses, is serving as the host for IMIS.
More than 300 booths have already been booked for IMIS, but for racing companies and people interested, limited space still is available. Details about how to be a part of the show are available online at www.imis-indy.com .
Medlen, who manages the Brownsburg, Ind.-based Eric Medlen Project that grew from his son's fatal accident in a Funny Car in 2007, will join Wayne State University's Dr. John Melvin and Safety Solutions Inc. President Trevor Ashline. Melvin and Ashline helped sort through the dynamics of Eric Medlen's crash and gave direction to JFR as it formed the foundation for the safety project.
IMIS co-founder Chris Paulsen has put together an all-star line-up that former CART Vice-President and Director of Operations Kirk Russell will coordinate.
The list includes another name familiar to drag racers. Tom Gideon, currently NASCAR's director of safety initiatives, was for 38 years a General Motors engineer who became manager of the automaker's Racing Safety Program. Among his projects today are the development and installation of SAFER barriers. John Force Racing crew chief John Medlen will join an all-star panel of experts Dec. 1 at the inaugural International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) Safety Conference at Indianapolis.
Medlen, who manages the Brownsburg, Ind.-based Eric Medlen Project that grew from his son's fatal accident in a Funny Car in 2007, will join Wayne State University's Dr. John Melvin and Safety Solutions Inc. President Trevor Ashline. Melvin and Ashline helped sort through the dynamics of Eric Medlen's crash and gave direction to JFR as it formed the foundation for the safety project.
IMIS co-founder Chris Paulsen has put together an all-star line-up that former CART Vice-President and Director of Operations Kirk Russell will coordinate.
The list includes another name familiar to drag racers. Tom Gideon, currently NASCAR's director of safety initiatives, was for 38 years a General Motors engineer who became manager of the automaker's Racing Safety Program. Among his projects today are the development and installation of SAFER barriers.
On the panel, too, are Dr. Robert Hubbard, the Michigan State University professor, biomechanics guru, and former GM engineer who created the HANS device; SFI Foundation President and CEO Arnie Kuhns, whose internationally recognized Poway, Calif., organization is develops, administers, and tests a complete set of minimum performance standards used in racing vehicles; and renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Terry Trammell, spinal surgical consultant to the IndyCar Series and a founding member of the International Council of Motorsports Science and a founding Fellow of the FIA Institute.
Two-time NASCAR Busch series champion Randy LaJoie, who owns a racing safety seat company, will serve as presenters with David Brown, track safety coordinator for the Indy Car Series; FIA Head of Research Hubert Gramling; Chapel Hill, N.C., Fire Chief Dan Jones, a frequent guest lecturer on emergency services; brain-injury and concussion specialist Dr. Steve Olvey; Dean Sicking, professor of structural engineering at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln who developed the SAFER barrier for high speed racetracks; Dr. Dan Thomas, helmet safety testing expert from the Snell Memorial Foundation; Joe Marko, driver restraint manufacturer and industry leader; and East Hartford, Conn., Fire Chief John Oates, chairman of the National Fire Protection Association Technical Committee on Safety at Motorsports Venues.
John Force, devastated by Eric Medlen's loss then his own horrific crash six months later, is credited for leading the safety initiatives in drag racing. But he said, "The drivers are starting to thank me, and I don't want to be thanked." Instead, he said, he wants racers to learn from the experts.
"You've got to get somebody that's trained in that science to teach you," Force said. "And they redesigned the cars that we have. So, in the process, we weren't going to try and figure out what happened to Eric and what happened to me. We jumped into it with people who had studied it in NASCAR, people from Ford Motor Company that were technicians that travel around the world with F1 and worked with NASCAR and IndyCar that work with this stuff. And we listened to them tell us. And that's how we got our answers."
Paulsen said he wanted to conduct a seminar with practical and lasting applications.
"It seems like it seems like safety seminars are popping up everywhere," Paulsen said. "But what are the results? Do these seminars get action items accomplished? Many times they don't. We’re going to change that."
He said, "Since we told the world about the IMIS Safety Conference, there has been unbelievable response. There’s an incredible passion with everyone in the industry when it comes to safety, but there seems to be a missing ingredient: communication. This is our mission, [to] open up communication within the racing industry.
"We want to open the door to the millions of dollars invested in great technology that has been developed by sanctioning bodies, manufacturers, independent researchers, and others who have devoted their time, talent and resources to lead this effort. We want to create a channel that brings that expertise to the intermediate and lower level forms of racing, saving lives and preventing injuries," Paulsen said.
And how does he plan to do that, to reach -- in his words -- "very achievable goals beyond the inaugural conference"?
"We're going to accomplish our goal by putting people together in an environment where they can get in touch with this technology first-hand."
Because of what he called an "overwhelming response," Paulsen said, the IMIS has scheduled two days in 2010 for the Safety Conference and predicted the seminar will evolve into a three-day affair in the future.
The IMIS, which in July acquired the partnership of racing-industry leader and NASCAR Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart, will be Dec. 2-3 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.
The Indiana Motorsports Association (IMA), which works toward unifying all motorsports business-related interests within the state of Indiana and to enrich the economic impact of Indiana motorsports businesses, is serving as the host for IMIS.
More than 300 booths have already been booked for IMIS, but for racing companies and people interested, limited space still is available. Details about how to be a part of the show are available online at www.imis-indy.com .
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