More career opportunites available in automotive industry than being a mechanic

There are more career opportunities available in the automotive industry apart from being a mechanic.

This was articulated by Damien King, a Vincentian and certified electronic fuel injection (EFI) calibrator in a recent interview with SEARCHLIGHT.

“There are specialized skill sets that can be developed that the market may not have a ready demand for because they just not aware of it,” King said. “There’s a very strong market. It doesn’t appear that way because there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding my skillset. Because it’s not something that’s formalized in the Caribbean.”

EFI – electronic fuel injection essentially works along with other parts of a vehicle to make it more efficient.

King, who gained his qualification in 2005 from the EFI University in Texas, said that EFI uses an equation called speed density to calculate the mass of air going into the engine.

He said once this happens, an individual now has to tell the engine control unit (ECU) how to metre the correct amount of fuel to match it.

King said that this process has replaced the mechanical way of doing things, making it a lot more accurate and precise. He also noted that this kind of engine calibration technology is mainly associated with race cars.

With his training in EFI calibration, King has been able to serve as a technical analyst. In this role, he has the ability to alter an engine to improve efficiency and speed without the engine destroying itself.

Since his initial training in 2005, he has also ventured off into various fields of mechanical engineering, namely thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and unsteady gas dynamics.

This has also provided him with the opportunity to serve as a technical representative for a company, Nostrom Energy which specialises in combustion chamber efficiency.

Although EFI calibration is closely associated with race cars, King said that there are clever ways of incorporating the modern technology to make it available for the everyday man.

He used the Rubis race car he works with in St Lucia as an example, stating that it does not compete on specialised fuels whereas that has been the norm in the Caribbean.

King further said that he has “made the sport accessible to the everyday competitor or enthusiast”.

“I think that the regional market in the Caribbean can benefit from my services particularly and anybody else who wants to choose this career for themselves by helping them understand modern vehicles better, to offer better services to the everyday commuter because we would have been importing a lot of used vehicles from japan which are past their sell by date,” the EFI calibrator said. “So they’re not on their way out but they’re not working as good as they should be. So rather than have a strong importation, we can then revitalize the existing vehicles that we do have by understanding the technology that they do work off of.”

Through his company, Stephen’s Automotive Research and Development – SARD Engineering, King offers technical assessment for anyone interested.

His services include helping existing race car teams to get more out of their car and helping businesses train staff as it relates to the automotive industry and best products for specific vehicles.

“I’ve taught evening classes at the local technical college. I have taught a course in introduction to automotive technology. I’ve also been a guest speaker to the first year and second year students at technical college. I’ve been a guest speaker at two separate vocational schools that have automotive related courses so I’ve helped them look at ways of earning a living within the industry outside of being a regular mechanic,” King said.

And the EFI calibrator added that he is willing to partner with the government in anyway possible as it relates to possibly integrating elements of his skillset in the further development of curriculum for automotive technologies.

King can be contacted via his e-mail, sarde.svg@gmail.com