Bob Strattan
I am saddened to belatedly learn of David's passing, and so soon after Johnna's passing. David was one of my students at the University of Tulsa, and an exceptional, non-traditional and unforgettable one. We remained in touch throughout his professional careerDavid majored in mechanical engineering while I taught electrical engineering, so our relationship was also non-traditional. We both liked cars, me a shade-tree mechanic and very amateur sports car racer in a previous childhood while David was an exceptional mechanic and obsessed with designing and building the perfect race car.David and another mechanical engineering student designed and built a small scale racing car for the inaugural year of a SAE sponsored student design competition called Mini-Indy at that time. The competition has grown into the Formula SAE student design competition in which several hundred universities annually compete in several world-wide competitions.The vehicle David built in his home garage (better equipped that our university shop) was the star of the competition at the University of Houston. The other schools had warmed-over go-kart designs while David's was the only one with a suspension system coupled to an aluminum monocoque tub with a sprint-car like fiberglass body. The organizers were so impressed that they requested that David and I present a paper about the design at a SAE conference, which we did.After graduation, David and Johnna spent a year overseas pursuing David's dream of designing Formula 1 race cars. When that exclusive club membership didn't materialize, he returned to Indiana to try his hand at Indy cars. He finally achieved his dream by designing and building the Tuna line of Formula Ford cars for SCCA racing, along with several other very competitive GT sports cars.It has been a privilege to know and have had some part in the life of such a fine and talented engineer and person. I sincerely miss him and offer my deepest sympathy to his family.Dr. Robert D. Strattan, Ph.D., P.E. Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering University of Tulsa