Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: Dimitri Vicedomini joins Brilliance Automotive as Design Director

Dimitri Vicedomini has joined Brilliance Automotive as its Design Director, following his previous position as Chief Designer at Pininfarina. Vicedomini, who has over 15 years of experience within the automotive design industry, has previously worked with Brilliance, leading the Pininfarina design team behind models including the Splendor and Splendor Wagon, the H530, and Brilliance's Zhonghua Concept. Within his long history at the renowned Italian design house he was involved in projects including the Ferrari FF, the Enzo and the new F12 Berlinetta as well as the Maserati Gran Turismo and other models.

MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.

Driver in Paul Walker crash was racer in his own right: Roger Rodas: 1975-2013

You know the headline: “Fast and the Furious” star Paul Walker died Saturday when the driver of the red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that Walker was riding in lost control in a business park drive, wrapped the Porsche around a tree, and then the Porsche burned. But less likely to make headlines was the death of the driver of the car, Walker's friend for nearly a decade, Roger Rodas, who became Walker's formal business partner and financial advisor in 2007. The crash, which occurred about 3:30 p.m., was near the end of a charity event that the tuner and racing company they operated – Rodas was the CEO -- Always Evolving, announced on the company's web site: “Our next open house and car meet is November 30th from 10 a.m.