New Raymarine Front Window C80 ( R08025 ) on 2040-parts.com

Getting to know you, Tommy Kendall, on the Autoweek America Adventure

If ever you wanted to get to know someone--I mean really get to know them--spend the better part of six days in a car, just the two of you. I would not suggest it as a job-interviewing tactic, but perhaps a portion of that time might get HR approval. Tommy Kendall is a fascinating young man.

Maserati sales up 4-fold in UK & Europe this year

The Maserati Ghibli (pictured) helped Maserati to strong sales in UK & Europe Maserati are on a mission to revive sales for the marque after years of being just an afterthought for car buyers fancying something interesting and Italian. And it seems to be working. The new Maserati Ghibli (and the Quattroporte) are starting to appeal to car buyers in the UK and Europe so much that sales so far in 2014 are up by 420 per cent on 2013, and although the actual numbers aren’t massive, the progress certainly is.

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.