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The executive planning committee for the (SPE ACCE) is announcing the second keynote speaker for the Sept. 3-5, 2025 event in Novi, Michigan. Casey Putsch, founder and president of the Genius Garage Educational Programs, as well as a car builder, racing driver, watchmaker and automotive YouTube personality, will present “Composites enable innovative, efficient and recyclable vehicles and can help to change the nature of mass production.”

The presentation will outline the Omega Car design and engineering philosophy which is centered around experimental composites for the sake of efficiency from manufacturing, its intended use and ultimate recyclability.  Putsch will highlight how, through the intelligent use of composites in automotive manufacturing, he was able to engineer and build a car that has a reduced carbon footprint per mile while using a diesel internal combustion engine. Putsch designed a diesel car that achieved 104.72 miles per gallon in its first test — making it from New York to Los Angeles on one tank — and goes zero to 60 in 5 seconds.

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Putsch will also speak about this experimental project, including what is said to be the only full-scale flying Pterosaur model in the world. This is a replica of a Quetzalcoatlus Northropi using flexible membrane wings and various composite structures which created the 38-foot-wingspan flying model. 

Putsch will also speak about the use of composites through his automotive builds and restorations, including a turbine powered Batmobile.  The build used a Vietnam-era drone anti-submarine helicopter engine and replicated the hero car from the 1989 Tim Burton film.

In conclusion, he will speak about the history of composites in the automotive industry, including the famous Chaparral race cars of the 1960s that inspired him to create the Omega Car and to take a blank canvas look at the automotive industry and the nature of mass production. 

“Hybrids and electric vehicles have a purpose but they’re not a solution for everything,” says Putsch. “Composite technologies can contribute to the mass production of stylish and affordable vehicles that are energy efficient and better for the environment with traditional internal combustion engines [ICE] technology. People want a car they can afford and fix themselves and we have the ability to provide that large-scale and we should.”

Read about SPE ACCE 2025’s first keynote here.