| NASCAR racing is the ultimate challenge for the team of engineers, manufacturing technicians, and mechanics alike. Working together, they race every weekend, Friday through Sunday. Monday morning, changes must be made to improve from the last race, to be prepared for the next, and to succeed.
As NASCAR racing has grown from a Southern-based sport to a nationwide phenomenon, the influx of capital, personnel, and resources has allowed more teams access to better technology. Managing that technology, incorporating it into a product life cycle that gets shorter and shorter, with numerous revisions in between, is critical to the success of the race team.
RCR operates in an environment that must be ultimately and infinitely flexible. Modeling parametrically, performing structural analyses (including now CFD), and generating machine code directly from the part models, all with full flexibility, are critical performance factors in the operation of the race teams.
RCR will share examples of its use of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire design and modeling, manufacturing, and engineering analysis solutions that have led us to be one of the leaders in the field. We will discuss the general operation of the race team, and how we partner with PTC to get the results that we demand.
ABOUT DAVID HOLDEN
David Holden attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., earning his B.S.M.E. in 1994 and his M.S.M.E. in 1996. While there, he co-designed and built an open-wheel car for competition in the annual Formula SAE competition.
He moved to Statesville, N.C., and joined Larry Hedrick Motorsports in August, 1996, where he was Team Engineer for two years. He joined RCR in November 1998 as the second engineer ever on staff.
Initially responsible for aerodynamic testing with the newly formed RAD partnership between RCR, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, and Andy Petree Racing, Holden also served as chief designer and performed component design and analysis, as well as failure analyses and test engineer duties.
He has acted as liaison between RCR and its Technical Partners, developing new products for RCR that are later released under terms of various Technical Agreements. Although he still attends tests for the No. 29 GM Goodwrench team as Test Engineer, much of his work focuses on long-term development projects, both internal and with existing Technical Partners, as well as the development of new Technical Partnerships to help RCR maintain its position as a major force in NASCAR racing.
David Holden and his wife Jennifer live in Winston-Salem, NC.
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