SMTA Indiana Chapter Meeting

Thursday, Dec 8th, 2011 10:30 am to 2:45 pm (ONLY 20 SPOTS AVAILABLE, SO DON’T DELAY!) 7645 Woodland Drive Indianapolis, IN. 46278 Directions: From I-465 (on the west side of the city) take 71st Street exit. Go east on 71st. street. Woodland Drive will be the first light east of I-465. Make a left on Woodland Drive. Follow Woodland Drive about 1/2 mile. SCS will be on the right side (or east side).

Agenda: 10:30am - 11:00 Registration ($25 SMTA Members*, $30 Non Members) 11:00-11:05 - SMTA overview - Eric Camden 11:05-12:00 – Speakers and Topics  "A High Temperature Protective Conformal Coating for Microelectronics & Electronics" Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Vice President of Technology – Specialty Coating Systems 12:00-12:30 – Tour of SCS Facility 12:30-1:00 – Lunch 1:00 -2:30 – Tour of Target Ganassi Racing

2:30-2:45 – Wrap up, Questions, Survey

* - All members that join the SMTA IN. Chapter between Sept 15th and Dec 7th can attend this Chapter event for $10.00! Go to: http://www.smta.org/membership/ to Join. Speaker BIO:

Dr. Rakesh Kumar is currently the Vice President of Technology for Specialty Coating Systems, Inc., where he leads the R&D group and manages Parylene research and development activities worldwide. His prior work experience includes technical and management positions with United Panel, Inc., Lucent Technologies, OptronX, Inc. He has more than 20 years of extensive experience in the development of polymeric materials and their applications in the electronics, medical electronics and semiconductors areas. He is currently involved with the application of Parylene coatings in the field of electronics, MEMS, and nanotechnology. Dr. Kumar earned his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in Chemistry from Gorakhpur University in India, and completed his post-doctorate work in polymer chemistry at the University College London, U.K. He is co-author of a book and has authored several published papers and patents.

Team owner Chip Ganassi and Target began their partnership in 1990 with the creation of a one-car IndyCar team. Since then, Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) has collected eight championship titles and 80 wins, including three Indianapolis 500 victories.

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Target Team solidified its place in open-wheel racing history, as Chip Ganassi became the first owner to lead his team to four consecutive championships with Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi (1997-98) and Juan Pablo Montoya (1999). In 2000, Montoya won the Indianapolis 500, claiming the title for his team which had not raced at the famed Brickyard since 1995.

In 2003, following a switch from the CART Series to the Indy Racing League, Ganassi and Team Target driver Scott Dixon proved they could meet the challenge of a new series and new competition by capturing the 2003 IndyCar Series Championship.

Dixon won the team’s sixth championship in 2008 on the strength of his first Indianapolis 500 win and a record-tying six race victories.

In 2009, Dixon – the reigning IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 Champion, joined new teammate Dario Franchitti – the 2007 IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 Champion, and made history. TCGR became the first organization in major auto racing history to team drivers who had won both its sanctioning body’s Driver Championship (IndyCar Series) and its marquee event (Indianapolis 500) the previous two seasons.

The pairing of Dixon and Franchitti also came on the heels of Chip Ganassi Racing’s (CGR) best season in their 20-year history with 14 wins across six teams in four different touring series. In addition, CGR became one of only a handful of race teams to reach the 100-win milestone when it did so in 2008.

The combination of Dixon and Franchitti in 2009 proved to be exceptional, resulting in a one-two sweep of the point standings with Franchitti winning his second championship (2007). Along the way, Franchitti (five) and Dixon (five) combined to win 10 of 17 races for Target, who celebrated their 20th year of partnership with TCGR in 2009. The 10-win season tied the team record from the 19-race 1998 CART season, where Alex Zanardi won seven races and Jimmy Vasser took three. The 2010 season marked Franchitti and Dixon’s second season as Target teammates, and the two quickly picked up on where they left off in 2009. Franchitti drove to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship winning three races, including the Indianapolis 500, while Dixon posted three victories and finished third in the overall standings. The season marked the fifth-straight year that Team Target has placed two cars inside the top-four in the overall championship standings.

Dixon and Franchitti will return again as teammates in 2011, having combined to win the past four series championships and three of the last four Indianapolis 500s.

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season features a 17-race schedule, with events on a variety of ovals, permanent road courses and temporary street courses. http://www.chipganassiracing.com/TargetGanassi/TeamHistory.aspx

Chip Ganassi:

Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 25 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world. Today his teams include two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, four in the IZOD IndyCar Series and one Daytona Prototype in the Rolex GRAND-AM Sports Car Series.

In 2010, Ganassi’s teams turned in an historic season by setting an organization record with 19 wins across the three touring series, including victories in the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. Ganassi is the only team owner in history to win all three crown jewels of racing– accomplishing the feat in just a single season. In addition, his teams won both the IZOD IndyCar Series and the GRAND-AM Rolex Series championships.

Following a strong career as a driver, Ganassi created his own one-car Indy car team in 1990 and established a partnership with a new sponsor, Target, which he has maintained a long-standing relationship with ever since. In addition, he can now claim partnerships with Bass Pro Shops and McDonald’s among many others. Through the years, his open wheel teams have amassed eight championships, 80 wins - including three in the Indianapolis 500 - while overall his teams can claim 12 championships and 134 victories. His NASCAR teams have 16 wins, including wins in the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and one trip to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He manages his teams from two state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Concord, N.C., and a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.

The Duquesne University graduate was formerly part owner of his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates and is a strong supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to which his teams have donated over half a million dollars over the years.