The foundation of the Brake Colloquium was planned a year before I completed my graduate school in the Fall of 1977. By the time the technical gathering became common knowledge in the industry in 1980, I had a couple years of exposure to the friction material industry. Most everyone in the business liked to attend the annual meeting, typically in Fall. Some brake friction bosses were afraid of sending the newcomers to these meetings fearing that they may be recruited by competitors. Their concern was justifiable…
Synthetic graphite, one of the ingredients used in brake friction material, is a highly desirable one for its contribution to overall friction stability. Contamination such as silicon carbide may cause rotor scoring leading to judder. At Ford Motor Company Friction Lab it was determined experimentally that some of the rotor scoring issues were related to silicon carbide presence in the brake friction material. Marv Weintraub of Ford, Phil Garth of GM, the late Phil Dougherty of then Thiokol with technical expertise offered by Arnie Anderson of Ford summoned the friction and graphite suppliers to a meeting to review and talk things over.
The first Brake Colloquium was held at Ford . There were 66 participants attending. It was a Tabletop Display with the opportunity for engineers to share experiences and problems. Test results were presented via a beamer display. The key topics included the elimination of asbestos as a principal component in friction material formulations and the introduction of metal matrix composites, and of course, elimination of silicon carbide from synthetic graphite.
Key members of the industry that were involved in the establishment of the Brake Colloquium included Dr. Marv Weintraub of Ford, the late Phil Dougherty of then Thiokol, Phil Garth of GM, John Brown from Abex, the late Dan McLaughlin of Schenectady Chemicals, the late Bob Carlson of American Metal Fibers, Seong Rhee of Bendix, Bruce Palmer of Palmer International, and Roy Link of Link Engineering. Arnie Anderson worked tirelessly as technical advisor behind the scenes and throughout the events. Only someone with his technical background and talent could guide the committee through the web of technical presentations and make recommendations.
Three years later, in 1980, the Brake Colloquium was moved from Detroit to the Sands Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey where Phil Dougherty had a place near the boardwalk. This became the landing place for the Brake Colloquium for the next three years, where ~150 people were attracted together with ~25 exhibitors. Presentations were oral with handouts.
The Brake Colloquium connected with the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE, in 1982. In the early years with SAE, Aesenio was the staff representative. He was replaced by Patti Krey who preceded Melissa Jena and Marc LeDuc. As SAE Brake Colloquium became to be known by then, the annual meeting sites were alternated from the East Coast to the West Coast. Meanwhile, the presentations became more formalized conforming with the SAE format and publications.
The Board decided on locations such as California, Texas, Florida, and Philadelphia in order to attract more international visitors causing the number of participants to grow. The Colloquium became a huge attraction for companies around the world that wanted to do business in the US. The number of exhibitors expanded along with the attendees. Advanced products were displayed and showcased to address emerging issues and technologies. Critical issues were brought up and resolved resulting in significant benefits for the attendees. Products were improved constantly while reducing warranties.
Over the past 42 years, there have been numerous milestones achieved that makes Roy Link, as one of the principal founders and newly retired Chairman of the Brake Colloquium, immensely proud.
The opportunity to initiate Brake Conferences in Europe, Brazil, China, and Asia.
Starting with a gathering of 100 members of the Brake industry in 1982, to over 700 key members in subsequent years, virtually every critical member of the Brake industry has attended the Brake Colloquium, at some time.
Major issues were addressed and resolved, on numerous occasions, at the Brake Colloquium, including Asbestos, Copper, ABS, Stopping Distances, Testing protocols to categorize Friction Materials, brake emission, AI and Brake Technology, and many others.
Renowned personalities from both technical and entertainment fields, such as Mario Andretti, joined to educate and entertain the attendees.
A venue was provided to enable Brake experts from around the world to engage and interact.
The Brake Colloquium provided the opportunity for thousands of industry experts to present their work and explain their research and an opportunity for many individuals to develop their skills and disseminate their findings.
The organization inspired several students and co-ops by giving them an opportunity to engage with industry experts and business executives.
Facilitated countless business transactions to take place which has energized the industry and allowed companies to prosper.
Nurtured interactions between companies, universities, governments and individuals from around the world.
Looking back at my bosses’ concerns way back then, I completely understand it. The first Brake Colloquium I attended in Atlantic City, I was approached by two different competitors offering me a job on the spot! I stayed put on my job and at times visited the elders in this business like the late Phil Dougherty at Thiokol. He treated me like a son, gave me a plant tour, not usually done when a competitor visited. Shared his technical wisdom with me over lunch or dinner and encouraged me not to be a stranger. Soon I learned that this fraternity of brake friction industry has always been one for all and all for one, even though on the surface cards were held close to the chest, as still is the case today. Prior to the formation of the Brake Colloquium these players were scattered around the globe. Bringing people together is easy, but keeping them together requires hard work that the founders such as Roy Link, for 42 years, selflessly gave their time to.
To celebrate the achievements of these individuals, Brake Academy and Ground Mobility will start a “Brake Technology and Business Hall of Fame” with the originators of the Brake Colloquium as the first inductees. At Brake Academy, we shall continue to induct future Hall of Famers from the existing pool of technologists and business contributors.
See Brake Academy's initial Hall of Fame Page.
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